Watermelon - I want you for my love

[Slagar1]

My family has a story of when my grandfather was on a business trip in China. He was served watermelon, and a woman at the table asked him what it was called in English. He told her "watermelon", and everyone at the table started laughing. The man who spoke the best English explained to my grandfather that there is a Chinese phrase that sounds close to "watermelon" and means "I want you for my love". Does anyone know what this phrase might be?

[George418878]

Hmm, maybe 我的美人 (wo de mei ren) which means "my beauty."

Is it possible they were speaking a dialect other than Mandarin?

[Slagar1]

Thank you, I've gotten the same answer on other websites, the consistency is encouraging. I don't know much about Chinese dialects, so I'd say there's a good chance it was something other than Mandarin. He was traveling in Ningbo.

[NathanRasm]

Ningbo speaks a Wu variety of Chinese close to Shanghainese.

[kjusa]

thanks for sharing