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Hong Kong Code-mixing Dictionary

A contemporary Cantonese-English dictionary


696 results found

Definition: A code-mixing term used by Hong Kong actress and singer JW as a less direct way to describe someone with a bad personality. Usage: E.g. I am not saying he is a bad person, 佢都係好人嚟㗎,男人我明白會有犯呢啲錯啦,但係當我係個受害者嘅時候,我就make咗呢個decision... (I am not saying he is a bad person, he is a good person after all, I understand men make these kind of mistakes, but since I was a victim, I made this decision...)Synonym: 我唔係想講佢係一個壞/品質差既人Reference: https://www.hk01.com/即時娛樂/60360165/jw剖白被背叛仍硬食拜金標籤真相-痛斥網絡風氣-永遠女仔就係雞?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=01appshare

off topic

Definition: A code-mixing term used by Hong Kong local students as a casual way of labelling something as not related to the topic matter at hand. Usage: E.g. off topic講兩句: 文理都緊要,理科是硬道理,但文科(文學、歷史;或者是哲學)才是中學教育中唯一認真(seriousness)的科目。(Let me make a few off-topic remarks: Both arts and sciences are important, with sciences being the most important, but arts (literature, history, or philosophy) are the only subjects in secondary education that require seriousness.)Synonym: 跟話題無關Reference: https://www.threads.com/@yuxichau/post/C5vuQ64SgYQ?hl=en

harsh

Definition: A code-mixing term used by Hong Kong local students to refer to the quality of being rough or even unkind, in addition to being strict in following rules or standards. Usage: E.g. 個professor好charm啊,但係有少少harsh... (The professor is very charming, but is a little harsh.)Synonym: 嚴格; 嚴厲Reference: https://lihkg.com/thread/86453/page/4

burger

Definition: A code-mixing term used by upper class Hong Kongers who have quite an expectation towards the price of a hamburger. Usage: E.g. 你一個垃圾burger,要人畀過百蚊,根本冇可能長做長有。(Expecting people to pay over one hundred dollars for a trash burger is not sustainable in the long term.)Synonym: 漢堡Reference: https://www.edigest.hk/投資熱話/富二代-鍾培生-fiveguys-執笠-ed01-1934440/2/

uni

Definition: A code-mixing term used by upper class Hong Kongers to refer to sea urchin in a Japanese restaurant. Usage: E.g. 當你碰上「海膽壽司」時,你可能會說Uni Sushi,但一些餐館會稱「海膽」為Sea Urchin來代替Uni (When you come across "sea urchin sushi", you will probably say Uni Sushi, but some restaurants will still use "sea urchin" to refer to uni.)Synonym: 海膽; sea urchinReference: http://paper.wenweipo.com/2011/12/21/ED1112210026.htm

selling point

Definition: A code-mixing term used by working class Hong Kongers to refer to a feature or quality of a product that persuades people to buy it. Compared to '賣點' in Cantonese, selling point can often extend to services and people, and can refer to personal attractiveness or uniqueness. Usage: E.g. 以前佢地D selling point 係聽話忠誠 (Their selling point used to be that they were willing to listen and loyal to their customers.)Synonym: 賣點Reference: https://lihkg.com/thread/3746011/page/2

detail

Definition: (adj.) A code-mixing term used by working class Hong Kongers to describe the small miniscule parts of something or something as being comprehensive. Usage: E.g. 因為隻舞係我哋自己編,Sean同大Hugo編,佢哋知道個detail位係邊,佢哋講得好清楚,所以就好快上手啦 (Because the dance was being arranged by us - Sean and Hugo. They knew the detailed parts of it and explained it very well so we could learn it so quickly.) E.g. 洗唔洗咁detail呀? (Does it need to be that detailed / comprehensive?)Synonym: 細緻; 詳細Reference: https://www.instagram.com/p/DZHDDcIFiMy/?igsh=MW00bDQyZ2ZvdHkwMQ== (use mobile version)

gym

Definition: A code-mixing term used by native Hong Kongers to refer to exercise done in the gym. Even though it is often used as '做gym' (do gym), it is not to be confused with 'doing the gym' because the gym is actually the place where people do exercise in native English. Usage: E.g. 想唔想一齊做gym? (Want to work out / do exercise in the gym together?)Synonym: 健身; 健身室; 健身室運動Reference: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/做gym

skip

Definition: A code-mixing term that native Hong Kongers use to refer to bypassing or avoiding something quickly. It is also often less intentional and deliberate than the Cantonese equivalent term '跳過' and tends to be done without much thinking. Usage: E.g. 正常人每日第一餐必定是早餐,若然經常skip,會打亂人體生物鐘及削弱身體機能,抵抗力自然變差。(For normal people, breakfast is always the first meal of the day. If you often skip it, it will disrupt your body's biological clock and weaken your bodily functions, naturally making your resistance weaker.)Synonym: 跳過Reference: https://hk.news.yahoo.com/記性差-原來關早餐事-044500693.html

fake

Definition: Originated from sports and often used with a ‘咗’ in Cantonese denoting past tense, this is a code-mixing term used by native Hong Kongers to refer to deceiving someone with a posture or misinformation rather than something like a fraud or scam, even though it can be serious at times causing real inconvenience to people. Usage: E.g. 俾 "轉工要趁後生" 呢句嘢fake咗 (I got misled by the saying "Take the opportunity to change jobs while we are young".)Synonym: fake咗Reference: https://lihkg.com/thread/3004954/page/2
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