Hong Kong Code-mixing Dictionary

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: A code-mixing term that is often misused by Fake ABC's in Hong Kong to refer to something of bad quality.

Usage: E.g. 個湯凍嘅，真係好worse囉。

Reference: https://www.hk01.com/開罐/128449/你是否-偽abc-chill-中文意思係咩-10個港人常用錯英文字

Definition: A code-mixing term that is often misused by Fake ABC’s to mean 'jot down'.

Usage: E.g. 老師，唔該等一等。我要ｄｒｏｐ　ｄｏｗｎ埋Ｄ　ｎｏｔｅｓ先擦黑板。

Reference: https://www.hk01.com/開罐/128449/你是否-偽abc-chill-中文意思係咩-10個港人常用錯英文字

Definition: Usually placed at the start of a clause or sentence, this is a code-mixing term used by native Hong Kongers to replace the phrase '無論如何', meaning 'no matter what' in Cantonese.

Usage: E.g. 我知你好忙，但anyhow，你一定要幫我。

Synonym: 點都好

Definition: (adj.) A euphemistic way of saying 'cheap' in Cantonese.

Usage: E.g. 喂，你唔洗咁cheap嘛？ E.g. 你正cheap精黎架！ E.g. Cheap到咁樣，我真係第一次見。

Synonym: 低俗

Definition: Translated from the punning of ‘粟米肉粒飯’ (shuk mai yuk lup fan), this is a Kongish code-mixing term that refers to a rice dish with creamed corn and pork served in Hong Kong Cha Chaan Tang restaurants.

Usage: E.g. Excuse me, may I have a ‘show me your love rice’?

Synonym: 粟米肉粒飯

Reference: https://hklanguage.home.blog/2019/11/12/kongish-a-new-language-of-hong-kongers/

Definition: A code-mixing term used by working class Hong Kongers to refer to more efficient and sometimes less official way of making a request for a job.

Usage: E.g. Jobsdb見到好多agent公司幫公司請人，一apply班agent就打來phone call，唔理你是唔是工作時間都打來，即刻問長問短... 不如直接同公司apply. (On JobsDB, you see a lot of recruitment agencies hiring for companies; the moment you apply, the agents call you—often without caring whether it’s during office hours—and immediately they start grilling you with questions... You're better off applying directly to the company.)

Synonym: 申請

Reference: https://lihkg.com/thread/3975336/page/1

Definition: An ultra professional code-mixing term used by working class Hong Kongers especially senior managers to refer to a suitable candidate that can take over an employee's job so they don't have to sound like they are getting just anyone to take over a job for the sake of cutting costs.

Usage: E.g. 之前公司有條友非高層secondment。每個月畀agent 160k 新老細嚟咗即刻炒佢。Replacement 可能一半價錢到 (I had a colleague in my past company who was not a senior level secondment position but paid the agency 160k per month. Then a new boss came and fired him immediately. The replacement could have been half the cost.)

Synonym: 搵人接替

Reference: https://lihkg.com/thread/2955436/page/2

Definition: An Englishised code-mixing term made popular by the phrase '一齊企硬唔Take嘢' (Stand firm together and don't take drugs), which was a slogan used by an anti-drug campaign launched by the Security Bureau in Hong Kong and is now imitated by many companies to sell their own products.

Usage: E.g. 一齊企硬eat車仔麵。(Stand firm together and eat cart noodles.)

Synonym: 企硬

Reference: https://www.instagram.com/p/DWFz2k6GXcF/ (use mobile version)

Definition: A romanised Cantonese phrase that westernised Hong Kongers use to ask a shopkeeper how much something costs, which is extremely effective when bargaining for a lower price at wet markets. It can also be shortened to 'gay cheen' (幾錢).

Usage: E.g. Gay dor cheen? (幾多錢?) E.g. Gay cheen? (幾錢?)

Synonym: 幾多錢?

Reference: https://homekong.com.hk/blogs/read/helpful-cantonese-phrases-to-know