Hong Kong Code-mixing Dictionary

Definition: With a literal meaning of 'humbly receive', this is a code-mixing term used by working class Hong Kongers who work in Japanese companies to express politeness before starting to eat a meal, which is equivalent to "Let's eat" in English.

Usage: E.g. A: Itadakimas! B: 其實係唔係一定要講？A: 唔係，不過有禮貌啲囉。(A: Itadakimas! B: Do we actually have to say this? A: No, but it's more polite if we do.)

Synonym: 開飯喇, 唔客氣喇, Let's eat

Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itadakimasu

Definition: A code-mixing phrase used by native Hong Kongers in the 1990's in a schoolyard joke rhyme with absurd religious crossover.

Usage: E.g. I don't know，食鬆糕，食完鬆糕變耶穌，耶穌教我念聖經，我教耶穌念佛經，耶穌話我唔正經，我話耶穌發神經。(I don't know, I'll eat sponge cake; after eating it, I'll turn into Jesus. Jesus teaches me to recite the Bible, and I teach Jesus to recite Buddhist sutras. Jesus says I'm not being serious, and I tell Jesus he's gone mad.)

Synonym: 我唔知

Reference: https://www.hk01.com/article/830396?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=01appshare

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

Definition: A code-mixing phrase used by native Hong Kongers to describe having a habit of joining events sometimes or occasionally without sounding they like to quit and join again all the time.

Usage: E.g. 我最近好忙呀，所以on and off咁樣join啲events囉。(I have been very busy, so I joined events on and off.)

Synonym: 斷斷續續

Reference: https://blog.english4u.net/blog2.aspx?id=1830

Definition: A code-mixing term that refers to the car brand Mercedes-Benz

Usage: Wow! Ban¹ ci⁴ ah!

Definition: Often said without a 'bus', this is a chique sounding code-mixing term that working class Hong Kongers use to refer to a vehicle that has more specific and direct route to a destination. However, the Cantonese equivalent '穿梭巴士' may be used more often during holiday as it may sound more enjoyable and less 'chur' to ride on.

Usage: E.g. 我每日返工都有得搭shuttle，好快就到公司。 (I can take the shuttle to work every day and get to to office very fast.)

Synonym: 穿梭巴士，接駁巴士

Reference: https://www.weekendhk.com/網絡熱話/中英夾雜-港式廣東話-香港人-ctb02-by-1413297/2/

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: Pronounced as '痾打', this is a more elegant term that refers to the Cantonese equivalent（落單）for placing orders.  Sometimes, it is used by the police when giving instructions to the subordinates.

Usage: E.g. D野仲未黎既？我落左order好耐喇喎。快D吹吓佢。E.g. 警察：This is an order! Understand?! 下屬：Yes, sir!

Synonym: 落單

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

Definition: A code-mixing term used by native Hong Kongers when they become aware of a situation and understand it so that they can learn from it and make a wise decision next time.

Usage: E.g. 你唔realise第一間既loss又點樣低價買入第二間? (If you don't realise the loss of your first house, then how can you buy the second one at a low price?)

Synonym: 意識；領悟；發覺

Reference: https://lihkg.com/thread/3638415/page/8

Definition: (adj) A code-mixing term that Hong Kongers use to describe something that is advanced in technology.  There is a famous quote that goes "High Tech揩野，Low Tech撈野", which describes the volatility of high-tech products as opposed to low-tech products that have a larger market despite high competition.

Usage: E.g. 哇，張枱有自動升降好high tech呀。

Reference: https://www.lib.eduhk.hk/pure-data/pub/201902353/201902353_1.pdf