When i was a kid, i never had to greet people. as soon as i turned 12, my parents were telling me that i should start to hu neeg. i've never felt comfortable to say that tho. i mean, how can you possibly say "tuaj los?" when they're standing in front of you already!!...i don't mind saying "hi" or "hello," but i tend to hesitate when saying "nyob zoo" thiab "tuaj los?"...

does anybody else feel what i'm feeling?..ahah..or am i alone on this one?

ahaha...well, when kuv tseem live with my parents and when i'm the one who opens the door...i say, "oh...koj tuaj lob?" or if there's a lot of people, "nej tuaj lob?" but if i'm not the one to open the door and i happen to be in my room and then happen to come out of my room...and i see them...from the hallway or kitchen...i'd be like, "pretend i didn't see them and don't greet them because they're still talking!" ahahaha...however, if i happen to go to the garage or just to the living room to grab something i do say it...just to those who came alone...i don't feel comfortable greeting many people when i didn't open the door for them...it's weird, but yeah...

and one thing...i don't ever say "nyob zoo" to cov qhuav...i only say "tuaj lob?" ahaha...nyob zoo es...i only say that to friends...OUUU and then there's that line, "mus koj (rov) tuaj os?" how do you say it? ahahah...it's so freakin funny i always mumble in the middle because when my parents say it...it's hella fast so i'm just like yeah...the "rov" that's in the ()s...yeah that's the uncertain word that i'd mumble...am i weird or am i weird? mann...my parents never taught me or tell me to greet guests with the greetings line...i just somehow picked it up from them so that i won't commit any rude acts...ahahahah...

but ok...kuv hais heev dhau lawm os! i shall quit now and really go to sleep!

"You Come?"


It used to bug me when I was younger....now I just say it normally....but I'd rather say "Hey!" or "What's up!".....

The big thing that still bugs me and why I don't really like to hu neeg is because I usually don't know the people i'm greeting....cuz you know if they're relatives, you're supposed to greet them with their name or title.....I usually just say "tuaj lob?" and shake their hands if they are male....I would shake the females hands but Hmong culture aint like that...only for Business....

Then when they leave, I usually just go with a quick:

mus koj/ne os or other combo...

Ha ha ha for reals! It's extra awkward when you're living on your own and then you'll have to say it for sure! I'm still not comfortable saying it whenever older people come to my house. I especially don't say the farewell part when they leave, that's even more weird. Oh yeah, and serving drinks??? Hmmm...my husband remembers to do it more than me. I'm so bad!!! Most of the time, I say hello and bye...they should understand, shouldn't they??? I'm not being disrespectful, I just can't get used to it no matter how hard I try.

FORGIVE ME OLDER PEEPS, I LOVE YA'LL -REALLY-!!!

HEYeee! Ntsej muag koj tuag lob? Los, kaw qhov rooj! Zaum ib pliag hauv kuv lub crib! Naaaah jus kiddin I never sey that to anyone sept for friends.

Jus a simple: Hi, koj tuag lob?

and a: Mus ho tuaj!

Nuthing wrong wift that, jus being polite, and it's better to sey sometin then not to sey anything at all cuz that's jus don't feel right, especially when it's your house. It's like seyin hey get out and close the door behind you, oh and don't let the door slam yur @$$.

I never used to say that as a kid. But I do say it now as a form of respect to guests. My parents never had to tell me to say it to guest, I just knew I had to do so. Being polite is a good thing.

When you go to certain Hmong people' s house and the kids don' t greet you, it seems normal, but when a teen, or an adult just look at you with no words, it' s impolite. It seems that way.

my parents don't make me say it. i agree with you, whats the point of saying "you've come?" to the people that are already standing right in front of you? i guess it's just a polite way to greet them....but i never say it to anyone lol.

ahahah!!! fav-nim ib teg.


hMm..and then now im thinking....hmoob relatives nab..mann!!..i don't know about other hmoob families, but this one time i opened the door for one of my relatives and while i was hesitating to say "tuaj lob?" he pushed the door wider and looked over my shoulder searching for my dad. He walked into the house already so i said, "los tsev os"..ahahAHHAHA...

i felt soOoO stupid. gosh...all these traditional etiquette..i wonder if i'll ever get used to it.


if there are little kids with the guests, then i farewell the kids with a "bye" and ignore the adults. ahaha..this is mean, but i didn't want to make a fool out of myself for saying the wrong thing. like mory was saying




awww mann!!! my in-laws are green, so whenever i go visit them, the first thing they say is, "nyob os."...and i'm all like..."uhhhhhhh...."..HAHAHAA...

^ AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...SAB LAWGS!!!

Haha, I start saying that when I was around 11....>_<..
And now, to those people who comes to my house, I'll usually say "Tuaj Los.." But if i don't like them..then I'll just ignore them...whatever happens. haha. But anyways, yea, my parents told me to say that so I'll be someone who knows rules...0_o....whatever that is. But I'm use to it. Even if those Hmong people doesn't answer me, I'll just shrug and go back to do whatever I'm doing. hehe.

Hate lawg xuey....dude......u always hating on green people huh?????? Hahahahha....i'm just kidding....dude make us green people feel so ghetto and stuff......thats y i dont talk to u guys (yea u know who) or any other stranger anymore in hmong...wheneva i speak hmong to people they be like wat ur green, its like they never seen a green hmong person speak hmong hahahahah........so many green hmong speaks white now.....u hardly ever hear anyone speak green hmong....hahahahhaha.......plus u got some strange green cuzin if they do that........hahahahha........man i meet and greet wid a "tuaj los" to any og's sometimes when i come out of the bedroom i'll say it but sometimes i dont and i just ignore them......hahahahha......if i'm there i'll say "mus koj (rov) tuaj os" i dont reallie say nyoob zoo anymore......but when i greet i do wat all new generation does squeeze the hell out of their hand during the handshake till some bones pop......hahahahahha......

ahaha..no..im not hating at all..aha
im just saying that i don't understand tseem tseem hmoob leeg
what??..so u're saying that you don't ask ur guests to sit down?--well.."nyob" means sit in green?? right??
clue me in will ya??ahaha..




wow...so then i should do what most people do then....run into the bedroom when there are guests?..ahahah...jk!
well..i've already been doing that.... :P

hehehe...thats funny...i still aint comfortable saying that...i feel so embarressed and yeah my mom gets mad when i just say "hi you guys"...

I don't feel wierd about it when people come to my house and I greet them, it's when I got to big parties and my parents tell me to go shake all the OGs hand.

ahhh..lolz...funny......but it's the hmongway....just saying "tauj los" isn't tat bad....but it is kinda wierd..lolz...

lol yes! but i never say it that often :P

I'm use to it now...beside, I know better now too. When you're Hmong, it's always appropriate to welcome (call) guest to your house, just like any regular people would do, it's all about manners.

Hahahahh.....dude nyoob does mean sit but we can say the other one too my hmong writing is still bad so oh well.......lol

It's called having 'manners'.

like any other culture, it's always about respect and manners

That's funny, I used to say that. when I was like 10.

having "manners" the hmong way is quite awkward for me...since im mostly influenced by the English/American etiquettes.

i say MOSTLY because there's only my mom and dad at home to teach the hmong etiquettes, where as i have lots of teachers and friends at school to who impacts me with manners of the Americans.

i guess im the byproduct of HMOOB-AMERICAN? ahahaha






waa??..ahaha..so then, according to the hmong ways: you went from mature to immature??.. ahahha...

i dunnoe.

maybe we are too shy.
ahah. i feel uncomfortable and wierd saying it too.

Ya'll ever think it's strange for the listener? not just you? Honestly, old folks tell me they're always shocked when they hear young peeps do proper Hmong greetings. . . . It's a pleasant surprise though I think. It may be a bit strange for us too, but for those who want to keep the Hmong culture alive, aren't greetings one of the first things to preserve?

yup...haha my parents brainwashed me with manners! and then when they leave you have to say "go you come back" haha sounds weird if literally translated...

i'm ok with it. it's like saying hello but in hmong. i mean it's a greeting that i had to learn since i was little so i'm use to it.

ahaha, i am w/ you. my parents, mostly my mom, alWAYs tell me to say that but i was never used to it so i never once said it ^^;' and i a 16 going to be 17. i don't feel comfortable saying that. i feel weird? or nervouse b/c i wasn't used to it.
and i feel the need to not say it. why? i don't know lolS. i like saying hi or hello more..but not to the elders though. if there are guests and they are elders, i just walk by them. i know it is rude but...ehs...i'm a careless girl so yea. i have manners and all...just not really? i mean, i know my limits and respects but the calling them, i can't do it. i don't know why.

I think the older folks actually appreciate it when we younger ones greet them. Sure, it's strange for us, but if we take the initiative, I think that would be really helpful in the long run. The risk in that is that of course, if you mess up the greeting, then they'll talk, but at least you took the initative. In my experience, the older generation generally do not take the iniative to greet us so I think we should do it even if we are uncomfortable. It's the first step for understanding and reducing this generation gap. I wish the older generation would show more appreciation because that might make it easier for us to greet them.

The word "Tuaj los" is a daily word that is most commonly used and we should say it when greeting your relatives, friends, close family, and etc...I mean the word is not a bad word to say...we should all be kind and generous, and act in a mannerly way when seeing someone in your home, and you're not realizing that they are there, but you can say "tuaj los" whenever you see or heard someone talking in the living room...it is always to good thing to say to someone, so that they don't feel funny or unvited.

I, on the other hand, always say "tuaj los" whenever I see my close relatives and families, and it is a good way to greet them. I don't mind saying that word...even if you do or don't know the people knocking at your door (they may be your close relatives like txiv ntxawm, niam ntxawm, txiv hlob, niam hlob, pog thiab yawg), saying "tuaj los" with their names is always a good manner, and sometimes people will go around saying that this family has good manner kids. Personally, I always tried my best to greet them and it feels good saying that word.

I do say it but I feel uncomfortable sometimes. When I have relatives that come over like my uncle though I don't greet him with the proper title, I only say "tuaj los". And I never serve them drinks, my dad always asks me to go get them IF I'm not already hiding in my room, hehe.

I say "tuaj los" to all or most of my relatives with their proper names, and to someone that I don't know, I just say "tuaj los". I mean when you open the door for someone, you can't just stand there without saying "tuaj los"...even if you don't know who it is, you can say "tuaj los" and that's fine, or even better addressed him/her with the proper greetings...it is as easy as that...I hope I was making sense here. No offense to anyone, but saying "tuaj los" is a good way to greet people and close relatives and friends.

my parents make me bring them food .. and while they eat ... i have to wash their feet.

I don't mind saying "tuaj los" or other simple Hmong greetings... since Hmong was the first language I learned. The more you say it, the more comfortable you are with it. What's there to feel uncomfortable about?

nah, my parents gave up on me saying that a long time ago...but i HAVE said that a few times back in my days...

That's *ucked up, but funny in a way. Come to think of it, I did use to wash my parent's feet when I was smaller...



Same here.

are you for real about washing feet. i don't think that's even a hmong cultural thing or if it was they must have thought it was stupid and got rid of it.

sorry for being so harsh (if your story is true).

Of course I said it. It's call manners. How do you feel if you do to someone's home and they don't said anything to you?

No, only when special relatives come, like someone who just came from Thailand, or someone from out of the state. They know that we won't say it regularly.

All my life, I've never said it, neither have my siblings. :X

It's funny how you said "All my life, I've never said it, neither have my siblings"....I mean the words "tuaj los" is just a simple word....it's so nice to say it....it may sound weird saying it, but once you get used to saying it, you will feel better and proud of yourself for stepping up to that one step.......it's funny that some people here at Url Ban don't say that word often.

NOw that's a risk im not willing to take..ahaha...rumors within the hmong families are so cruel. they stretch the truth and make it sound REALLY aweful. i'd rather keep my mouth shut and have them think im stupid than open my mouth and remove their doubts.







uncomfortable, because i grew up learning both language at the same time. English and Hmong are so backwards of each other that it can be confusing at times. I probably speak more english than hmong....even in my hmonglish, i speak more english. so saying tuaj los, just kinda throw my flow of hmonglish and english off...don't know why tho...s'weird.

im 18 years OLD and i practice my manners with my sisters and brothers-in-law. Everytime they come over, i'd greet them, but a giggle always escape me at the end of the greeting. sometimes even a hysterical laugh!...boy am i horrible.

You guys are funny. It's just basic greeting in hmong. As you get older it becomes norm otherwise you know you've gone too americanize. Then try Hi-Lo.

I always say, TUAJ LOS" and "MUS HOS TUAJ" when they leave. It's the proper way to say it. NYOB ZOO is a no no.

Nyob zoo is for meeting people at other places like going to someone else's home.

Walk up to door, ring bell. Door opens up:

"Auuuuuub tuaj los kwv npawg?!"

"Awwwwws nyob zoo os, ntu no nej nyob li cas lawm xwb na?"

"Auuub los tsev rau mam tham...los los los los! Los tsev!"