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Hong Kong Code-mixing Dictionary

A contemporary Cantonese-English dictionary


10 random words out of 852 results

Dinner / din

Definition: A fashionable, elegant way of referring to dinner in Cantonese.

Usage: Eg. 去邊到食dinner好呢? Eg. 你想去邊到吃din呀?

Synonym: 晚餐

Reference: http://www.patrickchu.net/uploads/9/0/5/3/9053324/2007_free_ppt.pdf

old seafood

Definition: Derived from '老屎忽' meaning 'old buttocks', this is a Kongish code-mixing phrase used to refer to a person who has high authority in a company but often looks down on the subordinates, points fingers at them, and uses them to his or her advantage.

Usage: E.g. My senior is such an old seafood! He just likes to point his finger at people and doesn't do anything himself!

Synonym: 老屎忽

drop down

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

day off

Definition: A code-mixing phrase used by working class Hong Kongers when they want to sound less intentional about applying for leave.

Usage: E.g. 記住我聽日day off,有D咩事唔好搵我。(Remember I am taking a day off tomorrow. Please don't bother me if there is anything.)

Synonym: 請假; 放假

Reference: https://www.reddit.com/r/Cantonese/comments/1g1dmdg/請問_香港_係講_工作天_唔講工作日/

rice bucket

Definition: Known as Kongish, this is a code-mixing term used by native Hong Kongers to describe someone who only knows how to eat rice and nothing else. ie. A useless person.

Usage: E.g. He is so useless like a rice bucket!

Synonym: 飯桶

main course

Definition: A code-mixing term used by upper class Hong Kongers to refer to the stage of a meal where the main dish is served. As to why ‘course’ is more often used than ‘dish’ compared to the Cantonese phrase ‘主菜‘, it may be to do with the upper class etiquette that the stage of a meal is more important than the dish itself.

Usage: E.g. 食semi-buffet質素好過buffet, 起碼個main course係入得落口 (The quality of eating semi-buffet is higher than buffet, at least the main course is decent.)

Synonym: 主菜

Reference: https://lihkg.com/thread/3120803/page/3

hygiene

Definition: A code-mixing term that a "Jayden Mami" likes to use to refer more specifically to a person's habit in keeping clean, rather than the broader sense of cleanliness and sanitary conditions that the Cantonese equivalent term "衛生" denotes.

Usage: E.g. Jayden,你攞人啲嘢食之前有冇做好hygiene呀?(Jayden, did you have good hygiene before grabbing somebody else's food?)

Synonym: 衛生

Reference: https://topick.hket.com/article/4112744/Jayden之亂|KOL拍片諷刺「Jayden媽」偽ABC育兒法%E3%80%80揭爆紅現象時間線-港媽式教仔金句

wun gut

Definition: Derived from 'gut' (吉) meaning nothingness or tangerines, this is a romanised code-mixing slang phrase used to describe someone is messing about and wasting time, which purportedly comes from people in the past going into Hong Kong stores just to drink the bowl of soup called 'gut' soup (吉湯) without spending money on the food at all. 'wun' can mean to mix (混) or to transport (運).

Usage: Auntie: Stop tasting my fruits here and there! Are you wun gut?

Synonym: 運吉, 混吉

Reference: https://www.timeout.com/hong-kong/things-to-do/cantonese-slang-you-need-to-know-right-now

report

Definition: This is a code-mixing term that Hong Kongers love to use to refer to '報告'.

Usage: E.g. 份report幾時搞掂呀?

Synonym: 報告

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

funny

Definition: A more neutral-sounding code-mixing term that Hong Kongers use to describe someone's personality as humorous, especially when they are not sure whether to give praise to someone.

Usage: E.g. 佢係mix黎既,講野個tone都幾溫柔,然後性格都幾funny吓。

Synonym: 搞笑

Reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uik5GWvXiLA&t=210s

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