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Hong Kong Code-mixing Dictionary

A contemporary Cantonese-English dictionary


161 results found

K lunch

Definition: A code-mixing term used by native Hong Kongers to refer to a meal set offered by a karaoke lounge bar or club. Usage: E.g. 今日去唔去食K lunch呀?一百蚊又可以唱又食,好鬼死抵。(Do you want to have K lunch today? Can sing and eat at the price of just $100, so frigging cheap.)Synonym: 卡啦OK午餐Reference: https://hk.ulifestyle.com.hk/activity/detail/20009510/唱k推介2024丨全港16大卡啦ok好去處-最平-36起-日文k都有-附地址-收費詳情

say no

Definition: A code-mixing phrase that native Hong Kongers use when they want to express rejection politely without sounding so blunt. Usage: E.g. 我發現幾多人返工唔識Say No。(I found out there are many people who don't know how to say no at work.) E.g. 唔好意思,我要揸車,所以要對酒精say no。(Sorry, I need to drive so I have to say no to drinking.)Synonym: 講唔好Reference: https://lihkg.com/thread/3268602/page/1

dry

Definition: A code-mixing term that native Hong Kongers use to describe someone or something as dull and boring such as having no relationship, which definitely has nothing to do with 'dry dating' in native English. Usage: E.g. 我近排冇拖拍好dry呀。(I recently haven't been dating, so dry!) E.g. 唔好成日自己一個人咁dry啦。(Don't be always by yourself, so dry!)Synonym: 沒新鮮感,很無聊,枯燥乏味Reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtwE7IA18CY&t=50s

copy and paste

Definition: A code-mixing phrase that even young and senior local Hong Kong students like to use to refer to duplicating information in the digital format because they were just never used to Chinese Windows. Usage: E.g. A:搵AI gen成編文出黎,再copy and paste落自己份功課到咪得囉。B:喂,你唔好教壞我喎?!(A: Just get the AI to generate some essay, then copy and paste it into your homework. Done! B: Hey, don't teach me a wrong habit!)Synonym: 複製與貼上Reference: https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hk/香港語文

promotion

Definition: A code-mixing term that Hong Kong salesman love to use as a strategy to advertise their products without sounding like they're doing it for the sake of spreading the word or selling their product. Usage: E.g. 我地公司兒家做緊promotion。你唔買就走寶喇喂。(Our company is now doing promotion. If you don't buy, you'll miss out.)Synonym: 宣傳,推廣Reference: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340689372_Code-Mixing_as_a_Promotion_Strategy_in_Shopping_Centres

whatever

Definition: A code-mixing term used by working class Hong Kongers when they want to express their dissatisfaction towards someone or something when they are running out of patience. Also, a 'la' particle is usually added to the end of it to emphasize the casual tone. Usage: E.g. A:個客講左D咩? B:咪話過要呢樣又嗰樣囉,總之whatever啦。(A: What did the client say? B: Said they wanted this and that, just... whatever la.) E.g. A:今餐想食D咩? B:Whatever啦。(A: What do you want to eat for this meal? B: Whatever la.)Synonym: 咩都好啦Reference: https://www.tkww.hk/epaper/view/newsDetail/1505250505201422336.html

up mud spring

Definition: A Kongish code-mixing phrase that local Hong Kong students use to ask what the heck someone is talking about. Even though it looks like a westernised expression, spring actually refers to testicles and is quite rude when used as an expression. Usage: E.g. Ho lun dor jargon ar. Up mud spring ar? (So many f***ing jargon. What the testicles are you saying?)Synonym: 噏乜春Reference: https://www.hk01.com/熱爆話題/364993/konglish瘋狂洗版-ga-yau係點解-即睇港式英語大測試

LV

Definition: A code-mixing term used by upper class Hong Kongers to refer to the famous French luxury brand ‘Louis Vuitton’. However, the grassroots class Hong Kongers may pronounce it as ‘eh-lo-wee’. Usage: A:你最想買邊隻手袋呀?B:唔洗問緊係LV啦。(A: Which handbag do you want to buy? B: No need to ask. Must be LV.)Synonym: Louis VuittonReference: https://amp.lihkg.com/thread/3065984/page/1

sophisticated

Definition: A code-mixing term used by overseas educated Hong Kongers when they want to avoid describing a problem as complicated because they have the intelligence to solve it. At other times, there is just not a word that covers all the meanings of intelligent, complicated and even elegant sometimes. Usage: E.g. 呢個問題唔係復雜,只係太過sophisticated。如果你識將個問題分拆,你就會解答得到。 (This problem is not complicated, but just too sophisticated. If you know how to break down the problem, you will be able to solve it.)Synonym: 複習Reference: https://www.facebook.com/okiokifamily/posts/有人在影片留言反映-為什麼我們有時會中英夾雜-我們一早有注意到這個問題問所以上字幕的時候全部改成為中文只有極少數情況例外例如英文字-sophisticated-/1187675216048224/

elaborate

Definition: A code-mixing term used by local and overseas educated Hong Kongers when they want to testify a person's knowledge or believe that the other person can be more eloquent in expressing their ideas. Usage: E.g. 唔好意思。我唔明你講咩喎。你可以elaborate一吓嗎?(I’m sorry. But I don’t understand what you are talking about. Can you elaborate?)Synonym: 詳細說明