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Hong Kong Code-mixing Dictionary

A contemporary Cantonese-English dictionary


883 results found

gossip

Definition: A code-mixing term used by native Hong Kongers which is a more generic and less vivid way of calling someone who is too preoccupied with talking about other people’s lives.

Usage: E.g. 唔好成日掛住gossip,專注啲做野啦!(Stop gossipping all the time and focus on your work!)

Synonym: 諸事八卦, 閒言閒語, 講是非

Reference: https://lihkg.com/thread/2683169/page/1

green

Definition: A code-mixing term used by working class Hong Kongers as a milder way of calling someone a newbie or referring to someone who is new or inexperienced at something.

Usage: E.g. 上次份banking工有feedback話我太green,想問我有無興趣去compliance到做。(There was feedback from my last banking job saying that I was too green, and they asked me whether I had an interest to work in compliance.)

Synonym: 新手; 缺乏經驗

Reference: https://lihkg.com/thread/3981656/page/39

group

Definition: A code-mixing term used by working class Hong Kongers to refer to a relatively small number of people or things being put together but probably not big enough to be an organisation or entity.

Usage: E.g. 我地間公司係一個group,不如加入我地既whatsapp group再傾吓我地可以點合作?(Our company is a group. What about joining our Whatsapp group so we can talk about how we can work together?)

Synonym: 組, 組織, 集團

Reference: https://resources.ctgoodjobs.hk/article/23487/職場熱話-被迫加入廿個公司group-員工-不停彈訊息-連apple-watch都壞埋

guarantee

Definition: A code-mixing term used by working class Hong Kongers to refer more specifically to the legal promises made by a company, especially in a contract or agreement.

Usage: E.g. bonus guarantee 有3個月?有d 公司好仆街係咪都話生意唔好減咁d 架wor (Is it guaranteed to have 3 months of bonus? Some companies are really an epic fail and say their business is not doing good then lower your salary.)

Synonym: 保證

Reference: https://lihkg.com/thread/2863234/page/3

gun

Definition: (textspeak) Transliterated from ‘緊‘, this is a Kongish code-mixing term that is added to the end of verbs to denote the sense of ongoing, just like the ‘ing’ in English as in ‘doing’.

Usage: E.g. Nei jo gun d meh ar? (你做緊d咩呀?) E.g. Ngo sik gun farn ah. (我食緊飯呀)

Synonym: 緊

Reference: https://hklanguage.home.blog/tag/kongish/

hang

Definition: A code-mixing term that working class Hong Kongers use to refer to computer that has become unresponsive, due to a halt or freeze.

Usage: E.g. 部電腦新買架喎,咁易hang機?! E.g. 係咪唔夠RAM所以hang左呀?

Synonym: 當機

hard feeling

Definition: A code-mixing term used by working class Hong Kongers to avoid the use of sensitive negative vocabulary when they want to describe a situation where there can be anger or resentment involved when disagreement happens.

Usage: E.g. A: 雖然我地達唔到共識,但係大家都唔好有hard feeling, ok? B: OK,明白。 (A: Even though we did not reach a consensus, we should not have any hard feelings okay? B: Okay, understood.) E.g. A: 雖然我地達唔到共識,但係大家都唔好有怨恨, ok? B: 講咩呀你?我幾時有怨恨?! (A: Even though we did not reach a consensus, we should not have any resentment okay? B: What are you talking about? When did I have resentment?!)

Synonym: 憤怒, 怨恨, 不快

Reference: https://lihkg.com/thread/3777161/page/1

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

hesitate

Definition: A code-mixing term used by native Hong Kongers to refer to having a brief pause before acting rather than being so indecisive and not knowing what to do.

Usage: E.g. 我都覺小貴,所以hesitate緊。不過真係好靚。(I think it's a bit expensive so I am hesitating. But it's really beautiful.)

Synonym: 猶豫

Reference: https://lihkg.com/thread/3167329/page/27

Ho

Definition: Known as Kongish, this is a code-mixing term that is used as an adverb to emphasize the intensity of an adjective, which is similar to ‘very’ in English.

Usage: E.g. Ho ging ah! (Very powerful) E.g. Ho ying ah! (Very good looking) E.g. Ho jeng ah! (Very good or awesome) E.g. Ho ho may! (Very delicious)

Synonym: 好

Reference: https://theculturetrip.com/asia/china/hong-kong/articles/12-phrases-you-need-to-know-before-you-visit-hong-kong#:~:text=An%2520alternative%2520to%2520“hou%2520ging,jeng”%2520if%2520something%2520is%2520awesome.

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