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Comment by hdra | Hacker News Reader

Really? I think its fine. Pretty normal response from a layperson being impressed by a major engineering feat without being interested to dig too deep into the technicals.

Maybe a bit of pandering, but I think he is just trying to be polite, but I don't see any sign of mocking.

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FWIW, if the BBC reporter were also chinese and speaking the same dialect, then his excited remarks would not be viewed as mocking. Similar gushing happens on other Asian variety shows. I would say the perception of him condescending his interviewees has more to do with the insecurity of the viewers[1] than it does with the presenter.

[1]"Man of Race-or-Country Y is exaggerating something in our language? Race-or-Country Y must be looking down on us!"

It's not just foreigner either, you'll get a similar level of interaction with someone who speaks very unaccented Mandarin coming to an area where people normally speak a different language (there's dozens in China) and don't speak Mandarin nearly as fluently.

Sort of like mocking hick accents in the US, real funny until you're talking with someone who actually has a hick accents, and then it's just kinda mean.

It's not intentional I'm sure. Just that the tone mismatch, serious/professional local speakers vs. over-excited/happy interviewer, were off-putting.

Well you have to take in to account that they both know that he will put on a show for the camera. Both men obviously knows they are being filmed.

But from a certain point of view(where you assume this is just a normal conversation between two people), i can see what you mean.

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