The word slanguage consists of two original English words, slang and language. ‘Slang’ means informal usage in vocabulary and idioms that is characteristically more metaphorical, while ‘Language’ means a body of words in which people who are of the same culture, community or nation share the system.
Hong Kong slanguage consists of commonly used terms or trendy expressions in Hong Kong which are in Cantonese only. This type of language is used both in written and spoken words. As Hong Kong slanguage mainly consists of trendy expressions that are commonly used in the Internet and other social medias, it broadly represents the culture or social issues which take place in a certain period of time. Therefore, Hong Kong slanguage usually changes with time and some words would be eliminated over time. Due to usage of non-standard words or phrases, Hong Kong slanguage is still relatively less accepted and understood by Cantonese speakers.
History
The rise of local slanguage is a social phenomenon in Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, there are approximately 5.4 million active Internet users.[1] This immense number of Internet users apparently gives an impetus to the evolution of Hong Kong online forums and the birth of Hong Kong slanguage.
The trend started with the development of local online forums. The two dominating online forums in Hong Kong, HK Golden Forum and HK Discuss Forum, were found in 2000 and 2003 respectively. As the number of Hong Kong forum users gradually increased, members of younger generation found typing formal Chinese words and sentences on the Internet to be old-fashioned, developing distinct and innovative online buzzwords.
In the beginning, those words were exclusively used on online forums and amongst younger Internet users. Unexpectedly, some new phrases spread extensively, becoming commonplace, not only amongst Hong Kong teenagers, but also enjoying use widespread use among Hong Kong adults and in the media. Some of these new terms are now widely accepted by the public and are classified as ‘Hong Kong slanguage’.
In 2008 Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination, local slanguage was included in the questions by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority in Chinese paper five. In 2009, a form-three student was found using slang terms in the Territory-wide System Assessment. Hong Kong slanguage has had a broad impact in the lives of Hongkongese people, far outreaching its Internet origins.[2]
Examples
There are several examples of the usage of slanguage. (Note: English romanization for terms below uses the Jyutping system).
6. Gaa2 zai2 (㗎仔), Gaa2 mui6 (㗎妹) - Japanese boys and Japanese girls respectively.
7. Gam1 so2 si4 (金鎖匙) - Literally means "Golden key"; Silver spoon (People who are born in rich families).
8. Gwai2 lou2 (鬼佬), Gwai2 po4 (鬼婆), Gwai2 zai2 (鬼仔), Gwai2 mui6 (鬼妹) - referred to Gweilo; Caucasian men, Caucasian women, Caucasian boys and Caucasian girls respectively.
9. Ji6 ng5 zai2 (二五仔) - Literally means “Two” “Five” Son; Insurgent, rebel, traitor or snitch. This comes from Triad argot.
10. Lou5 si2 fat1 (老屎忽) - Literally means old buttocks (Alternatively, Old seafood (Old seafood) - seafood sounds like Cantonese word "屎忽"); Old fart.
11. Maa1 daa2 (媽打), Faa1 daa2 (花打), Baa1 daa2 (巴打) and Si1 daa2 (絲打) - Sound like the English words “Mother”, “Father”, “Brother” and “Sister” respectively; Mother, Father, Brother and Sister respectively.
12. Puk1 gaai1 (仆街) - Sound like the English words “Poor Guy”; Villain / Bastard or someone deserves to die.
14. Se4 wong4 (蛇王) - Literally means SnakeKing; Could either describe someone who is a professional salary stealer or a professional snake catcher.
15. Seoi2 jyu4 (水魚) - Literally means Water fish; 1). - Turtle or Trionychidae. 2.) - Easy mark (Someone who is easily deceived, fooled or victimised).
16. Si1 naai5 (師奶) (Alternatively, C nine (C9)) - Sound like the English words “C” “Nine”; Aunt, housewife or married woman.
17. Sik6 sak1 mai5 (食塞米) - Freeloader / Sponger.
18. Sik6 ziu1 (食蕉) - Literally to eat banana and sounds like the English word “Secure”; 1.)Security guard. 2.) Eat excrement, as bananas look like excrement.[3]
19. So-di-a-sm (Sodiasm) - Sounds like the Cantonese words “掃地啊嬸” - A woman served for cleaning helper, janitor or custodian.
Business
Company
1. Cat1 zai2 (七仔) - Literally means “Seven” son; 7-Eleven.
6. Haai5 fo3 (蟹貨) - Literally means Crab-Goods; Stocks or goods that have decreased in value, such that selling it will result in loss.
7. Paak3 wu1 jing1 (拍烏蠅) - Literally to swat flies; having a slack business.
8. Se3 bok3 (卸膊) (Alternatively, Se3 bo1 (卸波)) - Literally to unload shoulder (to unload ball); to bunk off or to deny or refuse responsibility.
9. Se4 wong4 (蛇王) - Literally means Snake King; Absent Without Leave, skive off / slack off, sneak out or The act of being lazy or unwilling to do something at work.
10. Sik6 mou4 cing4 gai1 (食無情雞) - Literally to eat merciless chicken; To receive a Pink slip.
11. Zap1 lap1 (執笠) - To close down / To go bankrupt.
15. Sai2 taai3 ping4 dei6 (洗太平地) - Literally means hose washing of public places; To disrupt a business of Triad Society or illegal gangs by regular patrolling or spot checking.
4. Cat1 sing4 suk6 (七成熟) - Literally means 70% cooked; Medium well.
5. Cyun4 suk6 (全熟) - Literally means fully cooked; Well done.
Foul language
1. Buk6 gaai1 (仆街) - 1.) - As Adverb, similar meaning as English words Oh my god, Oh shit or What the fuck. 2.) - As Noun, sound like the English words “Poor Guy”; Villain / Bastard or someone deserves to die.
In Hong Kong, blue movies or pornographic films are categorized as category III films. 四仔 (Category IV) means that the films are more pornographic than Category III films.
10. Sik6 yun5 faan6 (食軟飯) (Alternatively, Sik6 to1 haai2 faan6 (食拖鞋飯)) - Literally to eat soft rice (to eat slippers' rice); To sponge off women.
11. Taat3 zoek3 (撻著) - Literally to ignite a fire; two people fall in love and become a couple.
12. Tau1 sik6 (偷食) - Literally to sneak food; Adultery, Infidelity or Two-time.
4. Jap6 zeon1 (入樽) - Literally to put something into bottle; Slam dunk of basketball.
5. Luk1 ling4 (轆齡) / (碌齡) / (碌拎) - 轆 / 碌 means wheel (as noun) or roll (as verb), 拎 / 齡 sounds like English word lane; Playing bowling (in Chinese, 保"齡"球).
1. Coeng2 geng3 (搶鏡) - Literally to rob of Mirror; Steal the show.
2. Ding2 nei5 m4 seon6 (頂你唔順) - You make me sick!
3. Jat1 gong2 cou4 cou1，cou4 cou1 zau6 dou3！(一講曹操，曹操就到!) - Speak of the devil.
4. Sai2 sap1 zo2 go3 tau4 (洗濕左個頭) - Literally means that hair is already wet, might as well wash it; What is done cannot be undone. (already committed; already involved; too late to back out; have to see it through).
1. He3 (𠺪) / (hea) - 𠺪, Literally means slovenly; To describe someone who strolls around without any purpose and heedless of everything.
In Cantonese, 𠺪 / hea has the similar meaning as 躺平 (Tang ping) in Standard Chinese and Goblin mode in English.
2. Fong3 fei1 gei1 (放飛機) - Literally to fly an aeroplane; To fail to turn up on a date / To stand somebody up.
3. Sap6 buk1 (十卜) - Sounds like the English word “Support”; To cheer someone up.
4. Fu6 luk1 (負碌) - Sounds like the English word "Fluke"; meaning something that is unlikely or surprising and only happens because of luck.
5. O jeui2 (O嘴) (Alternatively, Dit3 ngaan5 geng3 (跌眼鏡)) - Literally to have an O-shaped mouth (to drop glasses); To feel astonished and stunned, meaning 'oh my gosh'. The jaw drops and the shape of the mouth resembles the English letter, O.
6. Chyun3 jeui2 (串嘴) - To behave arrogantly and rudely.
7. Wat1 gei1 (屈機) - Literally to break a machine into two pieces; an adjective describing someone who is tremendous and excellent.
8. Sing1 ne1 (升呢) / (升Lev) - To gain a higher level in video game or Promotion.
9. Baan6 haai5 (扮蟹) - To behave pretentiously.
10. Pan3 faan6 (噴飯) - Literally meaning is "spitting rice"; something makes you burst into laughter.
11. Dik6 hon6 (滴汗) - Literally to sweat; to feel speechless and reticent.
23. Mou4 laa1 laa1 (無啦啦) (Alternatively, Sat1 ging1 mou4 san4 (失驚無神) or Si2 fat1 han4 (屎忽痕, Literally means buttocks itch.)) - As adverb, Out of the blue (Suddenly and unexpectedly).
24. Pou4 tau4 (蒲頭) - To appear.
25. Put3 laang5 seoi2 (潑冷水) - Literally to pour cold water on somebody or something; To dampen somebody's enthusiasm / to put a damper on something / discourage someone from doing something.
26. Sou1 zau1 si2 (蘇州屎) - Literally means Suzhou feaces; Hot potato.
27. Fei4 lou2 (肥佬) - Literally means "fat man" but sounds like English word "fail"; Failing an examination.
28. Jyut6 ging1 post (月經Post) / Jyut6 ging1 tip3 (月經帖)- Literally means Menstrual Post; Internet posts of similar topics those come up now and then or periodically.
29. Dou2 baak6 tau4 pin3 (賭白頭片) - To bet money on something or to gamble while not having enough money to pay if one loses.
Relationship with Cantonese and Culture
From the aspect of linguistics, the lexicon of Hong Kong slanguage can be classified into three types, including compounds, simple words and accessional words. Over 80% of 237 Hong Kong slang words consist of compound, a word with more than one radical element, which indicates that Cantonese slangs are usually composed by the existing words. Aforementioned examples such as Fong Fei Gei (放飛機), Cyun Zoei(串嘴) and Wat Gei(屈機) are all compounds, while Hea, Sap buk (十卜), Fu Luk (負碌) are simple words, which cannot be broken down into different words and O jui (O嘴) is accessional word.[4]
Cantonese has an array of unique features and the classification in usage of Cantonese is particular. The components of a Chinese word relate to each other compactly. For instance, radicals in Chinese symbolize various gestures and actions. It paves a way for Cantonese to possess strong expressiveness.[5] Therefore, people nurture and create slanguage in Cantonese easily. Some words simply do not exist in other Chinese dialects. For example, there is no formal Chinese character for jiu (𡁻), which is verbal Cantonese for chew in which the word is simply made up by Hong Kong people.[6]
Teenagers, being the most innovative and dynamic language users in a society, create new terms frequently. The younger generation is probably more responsible for spreading slangs directly because they are much more susceptible to the world of television comedies, commercials, comic strips and so on. This explains why a large portion of slang expressions originate and spread out from youth communities. It also states that slanguage is not only for communication, but also for recording the current culture. Thus, through the wide acceptance of Hong Kong slanguage, the culture of Hong Kong teenagers and perhaps even the entire society can be realized.
Gweilo or gwailou is a common Cantonese slang term for Westerners. In the absence of modifiers, it refers to white people and has a history of racially deprecatory and pejorative use. Cantonese speakers frequently use gwailou to refer to Westerners in general use, in a non-derogatory context, although whether this type of usage is offensive is disputed by both Cantonese and Westerners.
Hong Kong English is a variety of the English language native to Hong Kong. The variant is either a learner interlanguage or emergent variant, primarily a result of Hong Kong's British colonial history and the influence of native Hong Kong Cantonese speakers.
Mo lei tau is a type of slapstick humour associated with Hong Kong popular culture that developed during the late 20th century. It is a phenomenon that has grown largely from its presentation in modern film media. Its humour arises from the placement of surprising and incongruous elements, and the complex interplay of cultural subtleties. Typical constituents of this humour include nonsensical parodies, juxtaposition of contrasts, sudden surprises in spoken dialogue and action and improbable and deliberate anachronisms.
Written Cantonese is the most complete written form of a Chinese language after that for Mandarin Chinese and Classical Chinese. Written Chinese was the main literary language of China until the 19th century. Written vernacular Chinese first appeared in the 17th century, and a written form of Mandarin became standard throughout China in the early 20th century. Cantonese is a common language in places like Hong Kong and Macau. While the Mandarin form can to some extent be read and spoken word for word in other Chinese varieties, its intelligibility to non-Mandarin speakers is poor to incomprehensible because of differences in idioms, grammar and usage. Modern Cantonese speakers have therefore developed new characters for words that do not exist and have retained others that have been lost in standard Chinese.
Cantonese culture, or Lingnan culture, refers to the regional Chinese culture of the region of Lingnan: twin provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi, the names of which mean "eastern expanse" and "western expanse", respectively.
Dai pai dong is a type of open-air food stall. The term originates from Hong Kong but has been adopted outside Hong Kong as well. The official government name for these establishments is "cooked-food stalls". The more common name of dai pai dong literally means 'big licence stall' in Cantonese, referring to the stalls' license plates, which are larger than those of other licensed street vendors.
Cantonese is an analytic language in which the arrangement of words in a sentence is important to its meaning. A basic sentence is in the form of SVO, i.e. a subject is followed by a verb then by an object, though this order is often violated because Cantonese is a topic-prominent language. Unlike synthetic languages, seldom do words indicate time, gender and number by inflection. Instead, these concepts are expressed through adverbs, aspect markers, and particles, or are deduced from the context. Different particles are added to a sentence to further specify its status or intonation.
Profanity in Mandarin Chinese most commonly involves sexual references and scorn of the object's ancestors, especially their mother. Other Mandarin insults accuse people of not being human. Compared to English, scatological and blasphemous references are less often used. In this article, unless otherwise noted, the traditional character will follow its simplified form if it is different.
Hong Kong Cantonese is a dialect of the Cantonese language (廣東話，粵語), which is in the Sino-Tibetan language family. Cantonese is lingua franca of populations living in the Guangdong Province of mainland China, in the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau, as well as in many overseas Chinese communities. Hong Kong Cantonese shares a recent and direct lineage with the Guangzhou (Canton) dialect of Cantonese (廣州話); decades of separation have led to some deviations between Hong Kong Cantonese and Guangzhou Cantonese in terms of vocabulary and other noticeable speech habits, although Hong Kong officially maintains the Guangzhou dialect and pronunciations as the official language standard. Hongkongers refer to the language as "Cantonese" (廣東話).
Singlish is the English-based creole or patois spoken colloquially in Singapore. English is one of Singapore's official languages, along with Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil. Although English is the lexifier language, Singlish has its unique slang and syntax, which are more pronounced in informal speech. It is usually a mixture of English, Hokkien, Cantonese, Malay, and Tamil, and sometimes other Chinese languages like Teochew, Hainanese, Hakka, Hockchew, and Mandarin. For example, pek chek means to be annoyed or frustrated, and originates from Singaporean Hokkien 迫促. It is used in casual contexts between Singaporeans, but is avoided in formal events when certain Singlish phrases may be considered unedifying. Singapore English can be broken into two subcategories: Standard Singapore English (SSE) and Colloquial Singapore English (CSE) or Singlish as many locals call it. The relationship between SSE and Singlish is viewed as a diglossia, in which SSE is restricted to be used in situations of formality where Singlish/CSE is used in most other circumstances.
Cindy Au Sin-yi. Born in Hong Kong. Her ancestry place is in Shunde, Guangdong. She is a Hong Kong singer and former TVB actress. Her ex-husband is Hong Kong actor and three-time TV drama winner, Roger Kwok. In 1997, she sang children's theme song - Cantonese version of the cartoon Chibi Maruko-chan "There Are More Problems Every Day"《問題天天都多》, which then became very popular, won the "1997 Children's Song Golden Song Award Ceremony" 《1997年度兒歌金曲頒獎典禮》"Top Ten Children's Songs"「十大兒歌金曲」simultaneous "NET Children's Song Award"「至NET兒歌大獎」as well as "The most popular female singer of children's songs"「最受歡迎兒歌女歌手」.
The five most common Cantonese profanities, vulgar words in the Cantonese language are diu (屌/𨳒), gau (㞗/𨳊/鳩), lan (𡳞/𨶙/撚), tsat (杘/𨳍/柒) and hai (㞓/屄/閪), where the first ("diu") literally means fuck, "hai" is a word for female genitalia and "gau" refers to male genitalia. They are sometimes collectively known as the "outstanding five in Cantonese" (廣東話一門五傑). These five words are generally offensive and give rise to a variety of euphemisms and minced oaths. Similar to the seven dirty words in the United States, these five words are forbidden to say and are bleep-censored on Hong Kong broadcast television. Other curse phrases, such as puk gai (仆街/踣街) and ham gaa caan (冚家鏟/咸家鏟), are also common.
Code-switching is a type of linguistic behaviour that juxtaposes "passages of speech belonging to two different grammatical systems or sub-systems, within the same exchange". Code-switching in Hong Kong mainly concerns two grammatical systems: Cantonese and English. According to Matrix Language Frame Model, Cantonese, as the "matrix language", contributes bound morphemes, content and function words, whereas, English, the "embedded language", contributes lexical, phrases or compound words.
Cantonese slang is a type of slang used in areas where the Cantonese language is spoken. It is commonly spoken in Guangdong, Guangxi, Macau and Hong Kong.
Cantonese salted fish is a traditional Chinese food originating from Guangdong province. It is a fish preserved or cured with salt, and was a staple food in Guangdong. It historically earned the nickname of the "poor man's food", as its extreme saltiness is useful in adding variety to the simpler rice-based dinners. Cantonese salted fish was revealed to be on the list of IARC group 1 Carcinogens, meaning it is a known carcinogen, but was suspected and studied for its links to cancer as early as the 1960s due to the high incidence of nasopharyngeal cancer, an extremely rare type of nose and head cancer now understood to be linked to a high consumption of this dish.
Cantonese Internet Slang is an informal language originating from Internet forums, chat rooms, and other social platforms. It is often adapted with self-created and out-of-tradition forms. Cantonese Internet Slang is prevalent among young Cantonese speakers and offers a reflection of the youth culture of Hong Kong.
Daa laang refers to a night-time meal in Hong Kong cuisine. First emerging in the 1950s, daa laang includes hot and cold Chiuchow dishes.
Malaysian Cantonese is a local variety of Cantonese spoken in Malaysia. It is the lingua franca among Chinese throughout much of the central portion of Peninsular Malaysia, being spoken in the capital Kuala Lumpur, Perak, Pahang, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan, it is also widely understood to varying degrees by many Chinese people throughout the country, regardless of their ancestral language.
↑ William Fu "The use of "chiu yu"(潮語)in Hong Kong"
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