Sunday, March 16, 2008

Phrases To Impress

Yes thanks for the comment, Ninja, that repetition can drive you crazy. In fact, since I have been learning cantonese, I have found myself, at times, speaking cantonese (subconsciously) to myself and even talking to people in cantonese who are not chinese and do not understand any Cantonese!!! I have also found my normal everyday English suffering due to the different grammatical structures. Maybe these are the signs of my impending insanity - all caused, as you say, by constant repetition!

My summary of the whole situation is this: "Cantonese is freakin damn difficult! It is POOP CAY! All I can say is take your time! Try learning a few words each conversation you have. Furthermore, try learning some phrases that will quickly impress even though you have minimal knowledge of useful words. This later advice is for the person who just wants to impress others without the pain of having to learn alot of cantonese. I can only try to relate to such a person!!!! (please note the sarcasm of the previous statement!)

Ok now for some of these canto phrases:
1. Hou sum jok lui peck = good heart gets struck by lightning
(means something like: "There is no point doin good deeds, they're never appreciated anyway!" or "Do a good deed and get slapped in the face for it!")

2. Leng doh bao keng = so pretty the mirror shatters
Leng doh lau howl sou = so pretty i'm drooling
Leng doh pung pang seng = so pretty (bang bang) - I think the pung pang is a gunshot sound?
*basically all these phrases mean the same thing 'your so pretty!'
3. Bowl dinn waa chook = simmering telephone porridge
(porridge takes a long time to cook and hence I think this saying means "you are talking forever on the phone")
4. Hou loi mow kin = long time no see (lit.)
5. Whats wrong? = Mei si a?
6. Whats up? = Dim a?
7. Say something! = Gong ye la (it follows mei si a really well)
8. Don't worry = M gan yiew (to be used in normal situations - lit means 'not important')
9. Don't worry = Fong sum (lit. means let go of heart burden - prob use this one when more emotions are involved to reassure someone)
10. Forget about it = Shun a
11. Excuse me = M hou yee see a (lit. means 'has no meaning')
12. Have no time = Mow si garn
13. Whatever! = See Darn a! (shrug your shoulders for full effect!)
14. You're Crazy! = Nei chee sinn
15. Silly Girl/Boy! = Sorr Lui/Chay

3 comments:

Samii :) said...

hi, im an australian born chinese and im not very clear on my cantonese ><
just a quick question..
how do you say "what is she doing?"
isnt it something like "hei jom mei ye?"
or something..sorry if i sounded stupid lol im still learning

Xoivit said...

how can you not blogging anymore because i happened to find your blog on the internet and i do think it's super helpful for me to learn cantonese, yea i need to communicate with my bf. Keep it up ng goi

Unknown said...

hi i was in a HK market and overheard a hawker saying to a lady who didnt buy something after asking many questions including the price. the phrase the hawker used sounded like = wan gert. what does that mean?