Cantonese idioms and what they mean

! - aa fi : a street hooligan; a petty gangster.

" - aa g#ng : the boss of ones boss in a triad.
# - aa jy# : a stupid person; stupid.
$ - aa sh : [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 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!"
PDF created with pdfFactory trial version www.pdffactory.com
vw1 - a student who studies overseas (not in Hong Kong)
Ix1 - traitor
yz{| - something unnecessary, superfluous
}~ - to be obsessed with money
!1 - to prearrange the bids at an auction or during tender
"#$ - to cheat or conspire to trick
":;%"Z - loansharking
{&' - loanshark
{R() - to understand each other without speaking
{*$ - Big Lazy Snake - a Lazy person
{ lan + - obscene expression about screwing up big time
,-./01 - Taking Bus No.11, i.e. walking
234 - at dirt cheap price
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=Hx5 - (bones mixed up in past lives) to be deadly enemies.
Cheap 3I - super-cheap!
JKLMNO - (wealth cannot flash to the eye) don't anyhow flaunt your wealth
PQ - (heavy skin) costly, expensive
R{S - pretend to be rich/powerful
|T|U - living hand to mouth
VWF - a guy who curry favor
XY1KZ[Y~ - having ones own money is better than relying on ones chid
M\ - 711 store
]b - Tip from successful gambler given to casino dealer.
^_`kam - one should not wash ones dirty linen in public
a{b - anyhow boasting
acaJ - boasting , bragging
defg - days spent in Stanleys prison
hi - drug addict
jk - an invitation card : a parking ticket
jtlm - bringing a suspect in for questioning by the police
Bnop b' l' b%a l%a - to babble nonesense
qr Wet ? b'n douh wt? - where are you going to have fun ah?
qstYDu ? - A hostile question what kind of person are you?
v{8w b) daaih m+uh n+uh - big boobs no brain! Bimbo
xy b) m#i - Singaporean girl/woman
PDF created with pdfFactory trial version www.pdffactory.com
zP{ b+k l+uh mehng - to put everything one has into a task
|}~ b)u dihn wa j#k - ( boiling telephone porridge) talking over the phone for hours!
/ b+u houh - triad society
!"v: bn t+hng f%an - a Westernized Chinese . Singlish we called them "Kang-thang!"
!#U$% bun y 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 ones family to financial ruin; spendthrift.
Sb b%an s-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 of damn!
K-./ b%t j' s+ waih - incomprehensible, unaccountable, out of line.


PDF created with pdfFactory trial version www.pdffactory.com