Why do people in Shandong say water means bandit? What is the story behind it?

This is influenced by dialects. In fact, not all Shandong people think of Shui as a bandit, only some of them.

Because there are actually three dialects in Shandong: Jilu Mandarin, Zhongyuan Mandarin and Jiaoliao Mandarin. And those who pronounce water as bandit are those people who speak Chinese Mandarin.

People who speak Chinese Mandarin not only think of water as bandit, but also pronounce the sound of f as long as it is the initial consonant of sh. Just like "shu", they also pronounce it as "fu".

Affected by dialects, sometimes not only the initial consonants will change, but the finals may also change. Let’s just say that our most common “who” should be pronounced as “shui”, but in fact many people pronounce it as “shei”.

This is because the rhymes have changed, but because everyone has heard it enough, they don’t think it is strange. But the pronunciation of "bandit" has not been heard that much, so it feels a little weird.

In fact, dialects have their own characteristics in each region. In Jining, the word "water" is not pronounced as "shui", but as "sui".

If there are guests at home, the elders will greet the younger ones and say: "Hurry up and pour water for the guests." Then the junior did as he was told and poured some tea for the guests.

Many young people nowadays don’t speak dialects very well, especially here. Many young parents feel that the Mandarin spoken by southerners is not standard. If they learn to speak dialects, their Mandarin will become even worse.

There are also some parents who feel that speaking dialect is very vulgar, and people will laugh at them whenever they open their mouths. But I think the charm of my hometown is inseparable from the dialect. It is such a warm thing to meet someone who can speak a dialect when you go out!

There may be many people who are working hard outside. Apart from calling their families, they may never have the opportunity to speak in dialects.