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Hong Kong Code-mixing Dictionary

A contemporary Cantonese-English dictionary


327 results found

sir

Definition: Often used as 'Ah sir' (阿sir), this is a code-mixing term that Hong Kongers use to refer to a male teacher. (Also see 'Missy' for female teacher)

Usage: E.g. 阿sir,我今日冇帶功課。可唔可以唔好罰我呀?

Reference: http://www.cmi.hku.hk/Ref/Article/article02/01.html

sit

Definition: A code-mixing term that local Hong Kong students use to refer to sitting through a lecture without participating in it, which is usually used for those who don't belong to the class or course.

Usage: E.g. 同學:可以邀請我sit堂嗎? E.g. 我見到嗰位先生成日要sit堂。係助教還是professor?

site visit

Definition: A code-mixing term that working class Hong Kongers like to use to refer to a physical inspection of a site in order to discuss the scope of work with contractors and foresee any potential problems.

Usage: E.g. 進行project之前要做好site visit,以便理解好成個scope。

Synonym: 實地考察

situationship

Definition: A code-mixing term that Gen Z native Hong Kongers use to describe a romantic relationship where there are low levels of commitment except for sexual behaviour.

Usage: E.g. A: 你同佢發展成點呀? B: 冇呀,只係situationship。(A: How is your relationship going? B: No, we are just a situationship.)

Synonym: 狀態戀情

Reference: https://www.hk01.com/談情說性/377560/約會新詞-situationship-已經-沉船-但不能隨便跳船

sldpk

Definition: (textspeak, vulgar) A code-mixing term used by Gen Z native Hong Kongers when they laugh so f***ing hard that they could literally or figuratively trip and fall on the street. Sometimes, the acronym be translated into different versions in order to act like euphemism for a swear word phrase.

Usage: E.g. sldpk (少年的拼勁) (Hong Kong artist Lam Ka-hin used “sldpk” in a post on his social media, justifying his usage with a Cantonese word pun to refer to the swear word phrase indirectly.)

Synonym: 笑撚到仆街; 少年的拼勁; 成龍打保錡

Reference: https://tyr-jour.hkbu.edu.hk/2024/12/15/canto-slang-connects-gen-zers-in-hong-kong/

smash

Definition: A code-mixing term used by westernised Hong Kongers to refer to hitting a ball towards the ground forcefully in tennis, which not only feels good when defeating someone with such a gesture, but also it sort of gives the person a feeling of breaking something into pieces.

Usage: E.g. 咁勁?!今次我要smash返你!(So powerful?! I'm going to smash you back!)

Synonym: 殺球

Reference: https://lihkg.com/thread/3898753/page/7

SMS

Definition: Originated from 'short message service', this is a code-mixing term used by native Hong Kongers that has evolved to become more like a scam message service because of how easy it is for hackers to impersonate legitimate companies.

Usage: E.g. 有些釣魚短訊的發訊人名字與真實機構相同,這是因為SMS短訊制式容許應用程式對個人(Application-to-Person) 傳送的SMS短訊,自訂最多11位英文字母的顯示號碼(即「自訂發送者號碼」),並隱藏發訊者電話號碼。(Some phishing SMS appear to originate from legitimate organizations because the SMS protocol allows Application-to-Person (A2P) messages to use a custom sender ID consisting of up to 11 alphanumeric characters, while hiding the actual sender's phone number.)

Synonym: 短訊

Reference: https://lihkg.com/thread/3756472/page/2

so

Definition: A shortened term for the word 'socialise' in English, which may mean different things in various situations.

Usage: E.g. 喂,你so吓人好喎?(to show that you care about others) E.g. 喂,唔好成日掛住soD女仔啦。(to court somebody) E.g. 喂,後生仔要出黎soso吓先得架嘛。(to socialise) E.g. 喂,你最近好似唔係好so-so喎。(being social)

soft

Definition: A code-mixing term used by overseas educated Hong Kongers to refer to not being strict enough when managing people. Also, it often tends to depict a weakness in character by describing a person is not forceful or harsh enough.

Usage: E.g. 同事話我太soft管唔到學生,我聽完好灰。(My colleague said I am too soft and cannot manage students like this. I felt very grey afterwards.)

Synonym: 不嚴厲

Reference: https://www.instagram.com/reels/DU-fcZMgjI7/ (use mobile version)

sor

Definition: A shortened form of 'sorry' that is often used by Hong Kongers.

Usage: E.g. Sor,唔小心踩到你。 E.g. *碰到人* Sor,sor,sor。

Synonym: Sorry, 對唔住

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