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Hong Kong Code-mixing Dictionary

A contemporary Cantonese-English dictionary


656 results found

sorry

Definition: A more effortless way of apologising to someone without sounding so formal and serious. Sometimes, it is pronounced as 'sor-li'.

Usage: E.g. Sorry呀,踩親你。 E.g. Sorry呀,我遲到左。 E.g.你:對唔住!係我抵死,係我唔岩!朋友:唔洗咁隆重。你:SORRY囉。

Synonym: 對唔住

Reference: https://www.academia.edu/8666953/Common_usage_of_code-mixing_among_trilingual_Hong_Kongers

spin

Definition: (verb) A code-mixing term that refers to describing a matter as something else, especially in politics.

Usage: E.g. 鍾培生:阿林作好鍾意將件事spin到同政治有關。

sporty

Definition: A code-mixing term used by native Hong Kongers to refer to someone who has a habit of doing sports. However, it is also often used to describe someone or something as looking sporty.

Usage: E.g. 你覺得佢邊套最好睇。 第3套望落幾sporty幾健康 (Which one do you think is the best looking? The third one looks quite sporty and healthy.)

Synonym: 運動型

Reference: https://lihkg.com/thread/2725538/page/1

stand firm

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)

standup meeting

Definition: A code-mixing term used by working class Hong Kongers to refer to a meeting that is usually shorter than what is already brief and leaves people thinking it should have been longer.

Usage: E.g. Standup meeting講得一句太brief,judge唔到performance。(A stand-up meeting can only allow people say a few sentences that are too brief, which is hard for judging an employee's performance.)

Synonym: 站立會議; 站會

Reference: https://lihkg.com/thread/88607/page/1

start film

Definition: Known as Kongish, this is a code-mixing phrase used by native Hong Kongers to refer to starting a fight.

Usage: E.g. This is a school! Don't start a film here!

Synonym: 開片

step by step

Definition: A code-mixing phrase used by working class Hong Kongers to refer to a more sequential and orderly way of describing the progression of something, especially when giving instructions.

Usage: E.g. 實際通常都係 step by step 咁去先會得到結果 中間所有野都唔理咪做唔到囉 (In practice, I usually go step by step in order to get results. I won't be able to do it if I don't care about everything in the middle.

Synonym: 逐步; 一步一步

Reference: https://www.facebook.com/kt4404.hk/posts/發覺原來自學-it-都幾難-分享自-lihkg-討論區-呢個-reply-值得深思好多人諗野學野做野都話自己係-result-oriented唔理個過程係點得到/4291301534246259/

stir-fried squid

Definition: Known as Kongish, this is a code-mixing phrase that native Hong Kongers use to refer to getting fired from a job. (炒魷魚 - caau2 jau4 jyu2)

Usage: E.g. I messed up at work today and I got stir-fried squid!!!

Synonym: 炒魷魚

Reference: https://zolimacitymag.com/pop-cantonese-老細炒咗我魷-stir-fried-me-squid/

sup

Definition: A salutation often used by real ABC Hong Kongers to ask how somebody is doing. However, it is often overused by Fake ABC's to strike a western impression on others. (Also used as "what's up")

Usage: E.g. 喂,sup man? E.g. 偽ABC:Sup man, sup, sup, sup...人們:得喇。唔好成日唔係又sup又喺到sup啦。好煩呀。

sup sup sui

Definition: A romanised code-mixing phrase that westernised Hong Kongers use to refer to an easy task, which is equivalent to 'piece of cake' in English.

Usage: E.g. A: Thanks for helping me out! B: No problem! Sup sup sui la!

Synonym: 濕濕碎

Reference: https://www.localiiz.com/post/culture-local-stories-guide-hong-kong-descriptive-slang-phrases

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