Hong Kong Code-mixing Dictionary

Definition: A code-mixing term used by working class Hong Kongers to refer to a meeting that is usually shorter than what is already brief and leaves people thinking it should have been longer.

Usage: E.g. Standup meeting講得一句太brief，judge唔到performance。(A stand-up meeting can only allow people say a few sentences that are too brief, which is hard for judging an employee's performance.)

Synonym: 站立會議; 站會

Reference: https://lihkg.com/thread/88607/page/1

Definition: A euphemistic way of telling somebody to eat sh*t (食屎).

Usage: E.g. 咁巴閉?! Eat c la!

Definition: A code-mixing term used by Hong Kong teachers to make it clear and explicit that their students are essentially dead if they hand in their homework or assignment late, as the Cantonese equivalent phrase ‘截止日期’ does not denote the meaning of death at all.

Usage: E.g. 聽日就係deadline, 唔交功課就零雞蛋！(Tomorrow is deadline. If you do not hand in your homework, you will get a zero mark!)

Synonym: 截止日期

Reference: https://lihkg.com/thread/809281/page/1

Definition: A Kongish code-mixing term that local Hong Kong students use to refer to the extent someone is shortsighted in degree units.

Usage: E.g. You are shortsighted? What is your eye degrees?

Synonym: prescription, diopters, 度數

Reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBmy095Db9U&t=190s

Definition: A euphemistic way of saying to somebody that you want to teach them a lesson or show them what you've got. (比D顏色你睇)

Usage: E.g. 咁寸?! Let me give you some color see see!

Synonym: 比D顏色你睇

Definition: Often added with a ‘咗’ like the ‘-ed’ form in English for past tense, this is a code-mixing term that is used by working class Hong Kongers to refer to having completed something, such as an event or project.

Usage: E.g. 你地finish咗個project未呀？ E.g. 終於finish咗個event！

Synonym: 完成

Reference: https://www.businesstimes.com.hk/articles/157451/創新科技獎學金2024-挑選25位傑出大學生-每人最高15萬港元獎學金/

Definition: The Hong Kong way of referring to a female police officer (女警官).

Usage: E.g. 女警：Target出現。全世界出動！下屬：Yes, Madam！

Synonym: 女警官

Reference: https://www.gushiciku.cn/dl/0pydp/zh-hk

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/

Definition: A romanised code-mixing phrase that foreigners use to utter the phrase 'thank you' in Cantonese when they receive a red packet during Chinese New Year.

Usage: E.g. Dor jeh! Gung hei fat choi!

Synonym: 多謝

Reference: https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/travel/basic-cantonese-phrases-every-traveller-to-hong-kong-needs-to-know

Definition: Known as Kongish, this is a code-mixing term used by native Hong Kongers to refer to a person who is a yellow-skinned Asian but speaks English very well. I.e. Yellow on the outside but white on the inside like a bamboo stick. (竹升)

Usage: E.g. Please don’t treat me like a bamboo stick! (竹升) I know how to speak Chinese!

Synonym: 竹升