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Hong Kong Code-mixing Dictionary

A contemporary Cantonese-English dictionary


917 results found

on and off

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

on call

Definition: A code-mixing phrase that is used by Hong Kongers to mean that they are ready to go to work whenever they get a call from their company.

Usage: E.g. 我每星期工作五天。不過我假日都要on call。

on9

Definition: (vulgar, textspeak) A code-mixing term used by native Hong Kongers to describe someone who's idiotic and stupid. It originated from the Cantonese words '憨鳩' because the '鳩' (penis) has a similar pronunciation as the number 9 in Cantonese.

Usage: E.g. Why did you piss on me? Are you on9? (憨鳩) E.g. Don't be so on99 and watch where you're going! (憨鳩鳩)

Synonym: 憨鳩

Reference: https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=28512

one ball seventy percent off

Definition: Derived from '一波三折', this is a Kongish code-mixing phrase used by native Hong Kongers to describe an unexpected event with twists and turns. Literal meaning: A wave that is split into three segments.

Usage: E.g. 呢排真係好黑仔呀。簡直係one ball seventy percent off呀。(一波三折)

Synonym: 一波三折

Reference: https://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/words/58665/

one man band

Definition: A code-mixing term used by working class Hong Kongers to refer to a job position that covers almost all the duties that an entire department has.

Usage: E.g. 我份工係one man band,所以都幾忙架。

Synonym: 一腳踢

Reference: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/一腳踢

one more two more

Definition: Originated from a limerick in the 1990's, this is a code-mixing phrase used by native Hong Kongers to mock overeating by exaggerating that a person's buttocks will be as big as a pineapple.

Usage: E.g. One More Two More,屎忽大個菠蘿,菠蘿似粒的,好似朱古力,食咗會生跡,屙屎一滴滴,以後唔敢食。(One more, two more, your buttocks will be bigger than a pineapple; pineapples look like little pellets, very much like chocolate; if you eat too much, you'll grow some spots; then your poop will come out drop by drop, and you won't dare eat it anymore.)

Synonym: 再多一個、再多兩個

Reference: https://www.hk01.com/開罐/830396/i-don-t-know-食鬆糕下句-香港人20首小學雞打油詩-你識幾多首?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=01appshare

onsite

Definition: A code-mixing term that working class Hong Kongers like to use to describe a job that must be done in a company office.

Usage: E.g. 份合約講明份工要onsite做,冇得work from home。

Synonym: 現場,在工地

open

Definition: A code-mixing term used by native Hong Kongers to refer to being open-minded about sex, which is extremely appropriate to use to describe someone due to its hidden sexual connotations.

Usage: E.g. 外表斯文,內裡open。(He/she is gentle on the outside, open on the inside.)

Synonym: 豪放

Reference: https://www.facebook.com/100063467924977/posts/粵式市井順口溜-文-李系德以前看香港電視處境喜劇愛回家之開心速遞有一集談到不少古老當時興的粵式市井俗語因帶有壓韻也可歸類為順口溜這些隨口噏當秘笈的俏皮話雖然老土/1263445272447725/

open-minded

Definition: A code-mixing term used by native Hong Kongers to describe being receptive to new ideas but not to the point of so expansive by opening boundaries.

Usage: E.g. 我係一個open-minded既人,但係唔代表我內裡open。(I am an open-minded person, but that doesn't mean I am open on the inside. XD)

Synonym: 思想開放; 開明

Reference: https://hinative.com/questions/26265836

opportunity

Definition: A more sophisticated way of expressing chance (機會) in Cantonese, as the English term denotes prospect for advancement or success.

Usage: E.g. 好多謝貴公司今日比呢個opportunity我地黎做個presentation.

Synonym: 機會

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