Hong Kong Code-mixing Dictionary

Definition: Often expressed as ‘老best’ meaning 'old best', this is a code-mixing term used by Gen Z native Hong Kongers to refer to a best friend that a person has known for a long time. (呢個好大部分時候係攞嚟應用自己啲friend呀樣表達自己個friend係好老友囉咁樣)

Usage: E.g. 你哋睇下呢個係我老best。(Let me show all of you. This is my old best friend.)

Synonym: 睇下呢個係我個好朋友, 老友, old best friend

Reference: https://mingpaomonthly.com/article/details/語文．書話/2025-02/1737624129007/老best、bestie有咩分別？%20（歐陽偉豪）

Definition: A code-mixing term that native Hong Kongers use to refer to the all sorts of thicknesses of bread served with toppings because they have eaten at Pizza Hut too many times and don't believe that pizza is merely '薄餅', which translates to thin bread in Cantonese.

Usage: E.g. A: 想唔想食pizza? B: 好呀，不過我要食厚嗰隻芝心批喎。(A: Want to eat pizza? B: Sure, but I want to eat the thick kind of pizza with stuffed crust.)

Synonym: 薄餅

Reference: https://ufood.com.hk/restaurant/news/detail/20044615/全港10大Pizza推介-正宗意式口味-外脆內軟-邪惡拉芝/5

Definition: Originated from a limerick in the 1990's, this is a code-mixing phrase used by native Hong Kongers to mock overeating by exaggerating that a person's buttocks will be as big as a pineapple.

Usage: E.g. One More Two More，屎忽大個菠蘿，菠蘿似粒的，好似朱古力，食咗會生跡，屙屎一滴滴，以後唔敢食。(One more, two more, your buttocks will be bigger than a pineapple; pineapples look like little pellets, very much like chocolate; if you eat too much, you'll grow some spots; then your poop will come out drop by drop, and you won't dare eat it anymore.)

Synonym: 再多一個、再多兩個

Reference: https://www.hk01.com/開罐/830396/i-don-t-know-食鬆糕下句-香港人20首小學雞打油詩-你識幾多首?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=01appshare

Definition: A code-mixing term used by native Hong Kongers to refer to a game where a player hits a plastic ball with holes in it using a small racquette, which usually appeals more to females who find playing tennis too difficult.

Usage: E.g. 早幾年啲女興行山（有對腳就行得）、做GYM（有手有腳就可以鳩做＋打卡）。之後就開始Tennis，但門檻較高，同埋太多女學極都係咁廢，三分鐘熱度就收皮。而家就開始pickle ball，因為夠易玩 (In the past few years, girls were interested in hiking (you can walk if you have feet) and doing gym (you can do it if you have hands and feet + take pictures). Then they started playing tennis, but the learning curve is higher, and too many were extremely useless even when they kept learning, or they just gave up after 3 minutes. Now they started playing pickleball because it's easy enough to play.)

Synonym: 匹克球

Reference: https://lihkg.com/thread/3987075/page/1

Definition: Short for 'available zero', this is a Kongish code-mixing term that is often used by Hong Kong teen celebrities to sell themselves as idols that have never dated or been in a relationship before.

Usage: E.g. 鍾柔美男女關係複雜 A0形象被質疑 絕密校園生活揭秘 (Yumi Chung's complicated love relationships raise questions about her A0 image; her top-secret campus life revealed.)

Synonym: Available zero, 未拍過拖

Reference: https://hk.news.yahoo.com/鍾柔美yumi被爆扮a0-中學時至少有4名男友？-就連「學霸」之名都被質疑-080040455.html

Definition: A code-mixing phrase that Hong Kongers use to refer to having low intelligence or being stupid. Also used as '低B' sometimes.

Usage: E.g. 唔好咁low b係到周圍大叫啦！ E.g. 低B仔，你係咪仲未get要做咩呀？

Synonym: 低B

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

Definition: A term used by native Hong Kongers to divert one topic to another in a polite manner.

Usage: E.g. 係呀，個proposal已經搞掂了。Anyway, 我兒家要去開meeting。 E.g. 份proposal仲未搞掂？Anyways, 我兒家要食lunch喇。

Synonym: 點都好; 無論如何

Reference: https://holiday.presslogic.com/article/224449/港式-廣東話-中英夾雜-口語-香港人-搭lift-食lunch

Definition: A code-mixing term that Hong Kongers use to refer to the Cantonese swear word '仆街', which literally translates to 'trip on the street'.

Usage: E.g. 聽日交唔到貨就PK喇！ E.g. 玩我？！ 你個PK！

Definition: A polite way of addressing a stranger, usually a much older person, when you meet them for the first time.

Usage: E.g. 哈佬Auntie，你好呀！ E.g. 仔仔，快Ｄ叫聲Auntie啦。

Synonym: 阿姨; 姨姨

Reference: https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3048345/hong-kong-comes-alive-learning-cantonese-make-sure-you-know

Definition: 1. (noun) A word used instead of the Cantonese equivalent to denote the meaning of casual wear. 2. (verb) A word used to tell another person to be casual, informal, and relaxed. 3. (adj.) A word used to describe something as being informal, such as an event.

Usage: E.g. 同事: 聽日著casual得喇，知道嗎？ E.g. 今日食飯casual D得喇。(隨便) E.g. 我聽日要去個casual既聚會。(非正式)

Synonym: 隨便; 非正式

Reference: https://www.esquirehk.com/mens-talk/simon-shen-hong-kong-english-chinese