Hong Kong Code-mixing Dictionary

Definition: A code-mixing phrase used by native Hong Kongers to refer to staying healthy and in good shape by doing physical exercise.

Usage: E.g. 平時食咁多野又忙住做野，要keep fit先得架！(If you eat a lot regularly and are busy working all the time, you should keep fit!)

Synonym: 保持身體健康

Reference: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Za8b2zE0uYg

Definition: A code-mixing phrase used by westernised Hong Kongers who really miss hearing the word Eve from Christmas Eve so much that they wished Christmas could prolong to the new year.

Usage: E.g. New Year’s Eve你會同朋友交換禮物嗎？B: 吓，唔係聖誕節先會交換禮物咩？！(Will you exchange gifts with friends on New Year's Eve? B: What? Don't people exchange gifts during Christmas instead?)

Synonym: 除夕

Reference: https://www.hk01.com/知性女生/60307715/除夕倒數2026-10大倒數好去處-迪士尼煙花-西九音樂會-倒數派對

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 code-mixing term used by westernised Hong Kongers to express a choice in something without stating their favour or to avoid sounding picky.

Usage: E.g. 我今晚既preference係食西餐，但係又唔代表我成日都鍾意。(My preference is western cuisine tonight, but that doesn't mean I like it all the time.)

Synonym: 偏愛; 偏好; 優先選擇

Reference: https://lihkg.com/thread/3316788/page/27

Definition: A code-mixing phrase used by Hong Kong local students to encourage others to keep studying hard and make progress every day.

Usage: E.g. My Chinese classmates often tell me to 'Good good study, day day up'. It's so catchy!

Synonym: 好好學習，天天向上

Reference: https://dw-media.tkww.hk/epaper/tkp/20091103/A25_Screen.pdf

Definition: A highly efficient code-mixing term that working class Hong Kongers use when they want to do a short summary of what happened in a period of time without sounding so repetitive, old school and verbose as '概括重述' denotes.

Usage: E.g. 不如我地一齊recap一下今個week做左咩？(What about doing a recap of what we did this week?)

Synonym: 概括重述

Reference: https://ezone.hk/article/20052634/香港職場中英夾雜用語-內地網民舉30個例子-表示識粵語都無法理解

Definition: Often mistaken as 'no thanks' or refusal to an offer, this is a code-mixing term used by Gen Z native Hong Kongers to acknowledge someone's gratitude, which is comparable to 'You are welcome'.

Usage: E.g. 岩岩做野果時幫佢手 佢同我講Thanks。我諗唔到除左No Thanks/ It’s Fine之外仲有咩回應。(When I started working for him at that time, he used to say 'thanks'. But I could not think of any phrases other than 'No Thanks/It's fine' as a response.)

Synonym: 唔洗唔該

Reference: https://lihkg.com/thread/599066/page/1

Definition: A code-mixing term that waiters love to use to refer to the last order that customers can make in a restaurant before it closes. (最後訂單)

Usage: E.g. 今次last order，有D咩想落就好落喇。 E.g. Waiter: 今次最後訂單。 Customer: 吓？咩訂單話？

Reference: https://www.gotrip.hk/生活/中英夾雜-港式廣東話-gt12-772959/

Definition: Often pronounced with a '屎' (faeces) at the end of the word, this is a code-mixing term that Hong Kongers use to refer to the overall dimensions of something.

Usage: E.g. 請問呢件衫有咩size呀？。

Synonym: 大小

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

Definition: A code-mixing term used by overseas educated Hong Kongers to describe people with high standards of social, moral and ethical behaviour which covers everything from the way they look, dress, and talk.

Usage: E.g. 我覺得呢個行業既人都係好proper。(I think everybody in this industry are so proper.)

Synonym: 規矩, 正當, 得體

Reference: https://lihkg.com/thread/4012349/page/1