Cantonese idioms and what they mean ! - aa f i : a street hooligan; a petty gangster. " - aa g#ng : the boss of one’s boss in a triad. # - aa jy# : a stupid person; stupid. $ - aa sèh : [Mr Snake] : Sir. A term to address a male policeman. %& - am f %a [ hidden flower] : a slush fund; the money to carry a hit. '( - [to scrape dragon] to make a lot of money via illegal/dishonest business '()* - an unscrupulous school only concerned about making money '+ - to eke out a living, to squeeze money out with difficulty ,-, - [ghost fight ghost] fighting/quarrelling among members of same group ,./0 - long l ong winded/talkative ,1 - a young western boy ,2 - a westerner ,234 - beer ,51 - a mole/informer ,6789 - [not even the shadow of a ghost] completely deserted :; - loan sharking :;2 - a loan shark <= - Gold Rolex <> - Hong Kong HKG$1000 .?@A , BCDA - [ so many have died, but i don't see you dying] insult expression .E - to meet someone by a coincidence FG - to talk nonsense, bullshit HIJ - a chaotic place HK - an important person; big shot LLMN - very fortunate, very profitable (gambling); dead on target (shot on goal in soccer) L5 - luck, fortunate, fate KK1 - informal term of address for a younger man OPQ - to give "red packet" (triad) RSTU - cause trouble in the family RVTW - wealthy household XXJ - at least, nevertheless YZ - debt [\]^ - (neighbor's rice smells good) grass is greener on the other side of the fence [_`> - (buy a cow over the mountain) buy something without seeing it first abc - (pay water bill) to urinate de - to make a mistake df - to settle the situation, done! dgh - expression of anger, irritation "what are you doing?" dg, - expression of anger, irritation "what are you doing?" didj - to be lecherous, to behave badly, to get into trouble dk - to joke around/to play around dl - to cause trouble/problem dm - to cause trouble/problem no - to demean oneself p@pq - a person of few words, doesn't waste words or time rTstu - a scornful way to tell someone to get lost "go home to your mummy!"
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vw1 - a student who studies overseas (not in Hong Kong) Ix1 - traitor yz{| - something unnecessary, superfluous }~• - to be obsessed with money !1 !1 - to prearrange the bids at an auction or during tender "#$ - to cheat or conspire to trick ":;%" :;%"Z Z - loansharking {&' - loanshark {R() {R() - to understand each other without speaking {*$ - Big Lazy Snake - a Lazy L azy person { lan + - obscene expression about screwing up big time ,-./01 - Taking Bus No.11, i.e. walking 234 - at dirt cheap price 56b 56b - beyond repair, going from bad to worse 7[diu] - One of the most vulgar word in Cantonese. It's up there with "hahm gaa chaan" -8, - A useless person -#$9 - going for a quick walk around the block -: - wrap up a dead body; OR to have surplus food wrapped up for takeaway. -;_ - to carve out or fight one's ways to power and influence -<1 - employee; ordinary working class -<=> - a highly paid worker -$! -$! - to form a long queue ?@ - an unimportant person, idiot, jerk AB - "get lost"! Cb - rich DE - Crazy~! FG= FG=Hx5 - (bones mixed up in past lives) to be deadly enemies. Cheap 3I - super-cheap! JKLMNO - (wealth cannot flash to t o the eye) don't anyhow flaunt your wealth PQ - (heavy skin) costly, expensive R{S - pretend to be rich/powerful r ich/powerful |T|U - living hand to mouth VWF VWF - a guy who curry favor XY1 XY1KZ[Y~ KZ[Y~ - having one’s own money is better than relying on one’s chid M\ - 7–11 store ]b - Tip from successful gambler given to casino dealer. ^_` kam - one should not wash one’s dirty linen in public a{b - anyhow boasting acaJ acaJ - boasting , bragging defg - days spent in Stanley’s prison hi - drug addict jk - an invitation card : a parking ticket jtlm - bringing a suspect in for questioning by the police B nop b ' l l ' b%a l%a - to babble nonesense ' b qr Wet ? b ' n douh wt? - where are you going to have fun ah? qs qstYD tYDu ? - A hostile question “what kind of person are you?” v{8w {8w b) daaih m+uh n+uh - big boobs no brain! Bimbo xy b) m#i - Singaporean girl/woman
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zP{ b+k l+uh mehng - to put everything one has into a task |}~• b)u dihn wáa j#k - ( boiling telephone porridge) talking over the phone for hours! / b+u houh - triad society !"v: bùn t+hng f %an - a Westernized Chinese . Singlish we called them "Kang-thang!" !#U$% bun yé sihk w+hng gw%a - (eating gourd at midnight) : unaware of full situation 0U b%a bai - arrogant, flashy, showy etc (positive or negative manner) #& baahk johng - to visit a shop/person without any particular purpose 'R baaih g%a - [to ruin family] to bring one’s family to financial ruin; spendthrift. Sb b%an s - ui ui - [ to gather water] to borrow or get hold of money. ()Y baat t#ng g%ai - rumours or gossip spreading. *+{m baau wohk daaih yh - to expose a big scandal. +R, baih g%a f + - exclaimation exclaimation of “damn!” K-./ b%t j ' s+ waih - incomprehensible, unaccountable, unaccountable, out of line. ' s
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