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Hong Kong Code-mixing Dictionary

A contemporary Cantonese-English dictionary


10 random words out of 946 results

lag

Definition: Pronounced as 'lig', this is a code-mixing term used by native Hong Kongers to refer to computer lag.

Usage: E.g. 部機好似唔夠RAM,好lag機呀。

common sense

Definition: A code-mixing phrase used by native Hong Kongers to describe someone as not having good judgement rather than lacking general knowledge, even though it can refer to both of these things when scolding someone.

Usage: E.g. Common sense 常人應該刷覺到既感通/道理 eg. 今日個女同事打扮得特別靚噴曬香水,放工應該有約會, 個晚最好唔好叫人OT (Common sense is what ordinary people should be aware of using their senses or reasoning. For example, if a female colleague dressed particularly well and sprayed perfume today, then you can guess they probably have a date after work. So you better not ask her to work overtime that night.) E.g. 你有冇common sense架?呢啲咁既野你自己google吓咪得囉!(Do you have common sense? For this kind of stuff you just need to google it yourself!)

Synonym: 常識

Reference: https://lihkg.com/thread/718878/page/3

share

Definition: An overused code-mixing term that Hong Kongers use to refer to sharing something.

Usage: E.g. 快D po你D相上網同大家share吓啦。 E.g. 去完旅行買左D咩好野同大家share吓啦。 E.g. 今日開會有咩想同大家share吓呢?

Synonym: 分享

present

Definition: An irreplaceable code-mixing term meaning to deliver a speech, as saying the Cantonese equivalent term '匯報' would sound too old school and non-colloquial.

Usage: E.g. 你幾時要present呀? E.g. 今次份assignment難唔難present呀?

Reference: https://www.academia.edu/8666953/Common_usage_of_code-mixing_among_trilingual_Hong_Kongers

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

ho lun bao

Definition: (vulgar) A romanised code-mixing phrase used by Hong Kong expats to describe the feeling of being so f***ing full from eating too much.

Usage: E.g. 呢到58蚊。但係呢到都可以十個人食喇。真係ho lun bao。(This is 58 bucks, but is enough for 10 people to eat. I'm really so f***ing full.)

Synonym: 好撚飽

Reference: https://www.facebook.com/reel/2972264009780939

short

Definition: (adj.) insane; malfunctioning; derived from "short circuit". Often used as "sot sot deih", meaning a little insane.

Usage: E.g. 你契爺凍到short咗. (Your godfather is freezing to the point of insanity.) E.g. 部冷氣機short左。快D搵人黎整返佢啦。

up

Definition: A shortened code-mixing term that Hong Kongers often use to refer to uploading files to the internet. ('上載')

Usage: E.g. 快D幫我up張相到IG啦!

gluttonous cat

Definition: Known as Kongish, this is a code-mixing phrase used by native Hong Kongers to describe someone who eats so much, which is similar to 'eats like a pig' in English. (為死貓)

Usage: E.g. You eat 5 meals a day? What a gluttonous cat!

Synonym: 為食貓

Reference: https://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/words/48371

hygiene

Definition: A code-mixing term that a "Jayden Mami" likes to use to refer more specifically to a person's habit in keeping clean, rather than the broader sense of cleanliness and sanitary conditions that the Cantonese equivalent term "衛生" denotes.

Usage: E.g. Jayden,你攞人啲嘢食之前有冇做好hygiene呀?(Jayden, did you have good hygiene before grabbing somebody else's food?)

Synonym: 衛生

Reference: https://topick.hket.com/article/4112744/Jayden之亂|KOL拍片諷刺「Jayden媽」偽ABC育兒法%E3%80%80揭爆紅現象時間線-港媽式教仔金句

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