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Hong Kong Code-mixing Dictionary

A contemporary Cantonese-English dictionary


21 results found

social

Definition: A code-mixing term used by working class Hong Kongers to refer to socialising with people when they are too tired of '應酬' in Cantonese where one is eating, drinking or entertaining clients for the sake of establishing business relations.

Usage: E.g. 曾經諗過改 逼自己扮social 但最後發現乜都唔理做番自己最舒服 唔洗夾硬逼自己扮哂野去應酬人 (I once thought about forcing myself to pretend to be social, but in the end I found that I didn't need to care about anything but being myself was the most comfortable. I didn't have to force myself to pretend to be social to entertain people.)

Synonym: 應酬

Reference: https://lihkg.com/thread/310048/page/3

social

Definition: A code-mixing term used by native Hong Kongers to refer to meeting and spending time with people as a normal everyday activity without sounding so deliberate.

Usage: E.g. 有冇人其實唔想同同事social (Is there anyone who actually doesn't want to socialise with colleagues?)

Synonym: 社交; 交際

Reference: https://lihkg.com/thread/3655725/page/2

follow

Definition: A code-mixing term used by native Hong Kongers that seem the most appropriate to use to refer to subscribing to or tracking another user's updates on social media.

Usage: E.g. 「Follow」個中文應該點講?(How do you say "Follow" in Chinese?) 追蹤 — 似差人查案 ("Tracking" - Sounds like a police investigation.) 關注 — 似社工家訪 ("Concern" - Sounds like a home visit by a social worker.) 跟蹤 — 會俾人報警 ("Stalking" - People will call the police.)

Synonym: 追蹤; 關注; 跟蹤

Reference: https://www.threads.com/share/_lsg2qIde

Halloween

Definition: A code-mixing term used by native Hong Kongers to refer to the occasion at the end of October where people celebrate by putting on scary costumes, which is more like a cosplay event or social party than something religious.

Usage: E.g. 其實halloween只係一個occasion俾平時唔敢cos play 嘅人扮下嘢 俾小朋友學下social 真係無宗教意義同無任何evil嘅嘢 最evil 就係晒d糖好肥會爛牙 (In fact, Halloween is just an occasion for people who don't usually put on cosplay costumes to play around, as well as let children learn to social. There is really no religious meaning or anything that is evil. The most evil thing is getting fat and rotten teeth from eating too much candy.)

Synonym: 萬聖節

Reference: https://www.threads.com/share/BAHNW6bYI0/

sldpk

Definition: (textspeak, vulgar) A code-mixing term used by Gen Z native Hong Kongers when they laugh so f***ing hard that they could literally or figuratively trip and fall on the street. Sometimes, the acronym be translated into different versions in order to act like euphemism for a swear word phrase.

Usage: E.g. sldpk (少年的拼勁) (Hong Kong artist Lam Ka-hin used “sldpk” in a post on his social media, justifying his usage with a Cantonese word pun to refer to the swear word phrase indirectly.)

Synonym: 笑撚到仆街; 少年的拼勁; 成龍打保錡

Reference: https://tyr-jour.hkbu.edu.hk/2024/12/15/canto-slang-connects-gen-zers-in-hong-kong/

so

Definition: A shortened term for the word 'socialise' in English, which may mean different things in various situations.

Usage: E.g. 喂,你so吓人好喎?(to show that you care about others) E.g. 喂,唔好成日掛住soD女仔啦。(to court somebody) E.g. 喂,後生仔要出黎soso吓先得架嘛。(to socialise) E.g. 喂,你最近好似唔係好so-so喎。(being social)

appreciate

Definition: A posh way of saying that you admire someone's work or effort, in order to show your high social status or higher education background.

Usage: E.g. 我好appreciate你個idea. Well done. E.g. 我好appreciate你做既野。不過,你都唔可以迫我accept你個apology。

Synonym: 欣賞

awkward

Definition: A code-mixing term used by overseas educated Hong Kongers to refer to a social situation where one feels very strange and uncomfortable, rather than an embarrassing situation where one feels ashamed or humiliated, as the Cantonese equivalent term '尷尬' can take on any of those two meanings.

Usage: E.g. 本來咁多人約左出黎食飯點知得返你地兩個,會唔會覺得好awkward? (Originally many people were going to have a meal together, but only two of you came. Did it feel awkward?)

Synonym: 尷尬

Reference: https://www.threads.com/@janemanic.english/post/DHpmw9YRm-y/很多人分不清-embarrassedembarrassing-和-awkward雖然它們都有尷尬的意思但用法不同-embarrassed-形容人的感受例如-i-?hl=zh-hk

class

Definition: This is a code-mixing term used by native Hong Kongers to refer to social class.  However, it is often pronounced as 'car' or 'car屎' by grassroot class Hong Kongers.

Usage: E.g. 喂呢間餐廳好high car屎喎。 E.g. 今日洗唔洗著到咁high car屎呀? E.g. 唔好成日扮到咁high car啦。中左六合彩咩?

Synonym: 階層

deep talk

Definition: A code-mixing term that native Hong Kongers use as a more socially appealing way to refer to a conversation that goes beneath the surface to explore a person's inner thoughts, which everyone knows it can be hard to initiate with someone or even mention.

Usage: E.g. 但每個人對deep talk既定義都唔同。我本身覺得deep talk應該係d要用下腦既話題 (But everyone's definition of deep talk is different. I actually think deep talk should refer to topics that require us to think a little bit.)

Synonym: 深度對話

Reference: https://lihkg.com/thread/3598156/page/1

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