476 results found
Definition: A romanised code-mixing term used by westernised Hong Kongers to refer to the red packets of cash given as gifts during Chinese New Year. Even though the first character of the phrase should be pronounced as 'lai' or 'lei' with a short vowel in Cantonese, it is often pronounced as 'laai' with a long vowel when in romanised form, leading to the expression sounding like 'laai see' (瀨屎), which means to poop in one's pants in Cantonese.
Usage: E.g. Expat: Have you got any lai see during Chinese New Year? HK'er: Laai see? Sure! I have laaaai see today. Just kidding.Synonym: 利是Reference: https://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/words/2007/
Definition: A code-mixing term used by native Hong Kongers to refer to the time period up to now without sounding so formal and elegant in social situations.
Usage: E.g. So far我覺得呢間餐廳幾好食, 但係service有D差囉。(So far I think the food in this restaurant is quite good, but the service is a little bad.)Synonym: 目前為止, 至今Reference: https://lihkg.com/thread/3926896/page/1
Definition: With a literal meaning of 'humbly receive', this is a code-mixing term used by working class Hong Kongers who work in Japanese companies to express politeness before starting to eat a meal, which is equivalent to "Let's eat" in English.
Usage: E.g. A: Itadakimas! B: 其實係唔係一定要講？A: 唔係，不過有禮貌啲囉。(A: Itadakimas! B: Do we actually have to say this? A: No, but it's more polite if we do.)Synonym: 開飯喇, 唔客氣喇, Let's eatReference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itadakimasu
Definition: Often used as 'AA制' (policy), this is a code-mixing term that Hong Kongers often use to refer to paying for yourself at a meal. (Also known as 'going Dutch' in English)
Usage: E.g. 今餐AA制得唔得呀？Synonym: 食自己, 自己比
Definition: A code-mixing term that only upper class Hong Kongers know how to use to refer to a meal where people serve themselves the food because of the French origin of the word which makes it so hard to pronounce properly.
Usage: E.g. A: 放假不如食buffet呀？B: 你指蒲飛？(A: What about eating buffet during holiday? B: You mean po-fei?)Synonym: 蒲飛Reference: https://hk.news.yahoo.com/生日飯-餐廳-推介-推薦-生日餐廳-235652146.html
Definition: A code-mixing term that Hong Kongers often use to refer to tasks that have not been planned and must be done at the time as they were assigned.
Usage: E.g. 今日公司唔係好忙，不過有好多adhoc野做。Synonym: 臨時工作
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