So here's an idea i came up with recently while thinking of a way to improve my cantonese. I want to learn conversational cantonese, but I don't know how to read the chinese characters, and I want an avenue where I can ask people what a particular word or phrase means, hence this experiment:

People can ask for meanings or usage about a particular word / phrase in romanised and then all the sifu / veteran / terror merror canto speakers can give input.

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I'll start:

I've always wanted to know what is the difference between the following words used:

ke lian
hor lin
chai leong
mo ku

they all seem to mean "pitiful". how do i differentiate the use between these words?

hmm... for ke lian is more to the mandirin side.. hor lin and chai leong is no diffrent the meaning.. both also pitiful. it really depends on the situation.. such example can be lyk for chai leong.

u working 24 hhours a day and ur grand ma say... songg chai leong looooooo

hor lin is more lyk i pity u . its lyk a begger on the ground.. soog hor lin

This post has been edited by TrustULoveU: Jul 5 2012, 02:50 PM

saopei

ke lian = mandarin

hor lin = pitiful

chai leong = sadful

mo ku = innocent

what about mo ku?

LOL

ts fan cheong

wo chao ni niang

sao pei = keep quiet if i'm not mistaken. like if some guy is talking nonsense, sometimes someone else will scold him: "sao pei lah lei!"

mo ku is mushroom

Lei gong mat yeah

keep your skin

ahaha.. its lyk u playing arcade with ur friends.. and u lose.. then ur friend will say sao pei lah lei! noob 7 ! hahaha

not tong ku?

yam gung lo

sao pei is not "go die" in a rude way?

example, ngo sau lei pei, means i kill you.

sao pei means what?

he mean mor ku in mandarin

hello, lengchai

how bout sohai?

Sao pei = keep skin (literal translation) meaning can varied depending on context just like the word fcuk. Its a general insult line so there is no actual meaning

meh lan lei geh

hor lin ( pity )
chai leong ( sadful )
kelian <--- is mandarin

mo ku <-- yuen wong <-- innocent

diff kind of mushroom lol one is the black mushroom the other is the button mushroom

sou pei <-- ask u simpan balik

eg: u show off something.. ppl say sou pei la <-- save it please.. we dowan know

sek si

ham plus chan

sau peh = sau tare=shut up
hor lin = ke lian =pitiful

ts

when u see girl/aunty/nenek/lou ku po u call them leng lui
when u see guy/unlce/datuk/ hamsap lou u call them leng chai

universal greeting in cantoness

This post has been edited by yahiko: Jul 5 2012, 03:13 PM

cantoneseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee cainis history by american

What "pek cek" means? As in "Hou pek cek aaah"

shut up - silence - dont make noise
sou seng - sou seng/mou cho - mou cho

just same meaning in different way to tell

sau pei is more to rude wan..

1st time sau pei create is bcoz chan hou lam ( youngster and gangster time)

another sau pei , is sau ter, sau sang ( SAU mean SHUT)

ngai emm hiau kong

mo cho more polite lor

mixed hakka cantonese

mo cho = don't be noisy

fong fei kei

tang fei kei

kar cher

ah jib gor hou yeh

man sui man man sui

end up ts thread full of rude and hamsap teacher

ah jib gor hui sek see la. Tong mai hui ge sei fei poh mai ham ngap tan la.

walau eh ho keng ah

jib gor kong fu keng , hou hou yeah~~
roshmah tau fat yeng, hou kuai yeng~~

This post has been edited by yahiko: Jul 5 2012, 03:32 PM

ngo chung yi ma lai mui

Rosmah pei hak pei kannn!!!!!

jib gor .. lei chui tak ngo jeong meh ! pok lei keh kai !

hou dong aah...

ji mo nai nai~

ya gor ____. dai geh. da pao. em gor sai.

only phrase i know and use.

what would be the right scenario to use for each? i've put common scenarios i've heard these phrases being used:

chai leong = baby crying non-stop
hor lin = an old lady who has to work hard to make a living
mo ku = a guys who gets blamed for something he didn't do

does that work? or can 3 words be used interchangeably?

is pek cek = stressed out?

another few words that i'm not sure about but i've put how i usually understand it:

fong fatt = method
mok teik = similar to fong fatt??
yin yan = fact

bei yan chap see fat?

lapsap

deng lei gor fai



This post has been edited by Break Prick: Jul 5 2012, 07:30 PM

Lau Yat mm'si lang kii eh!!

dude, that's hokkien lah.

ah, thanks for clarifying mok teik! really helps...

and my bad about yin yan... i wanted to ask about that still... fact = si sat correct?

Wo Troll lu boi sai meh?

e gor thread chiu tai nang, keng gau siu

yin yan is reason/sebab

lol i also want to learn canto.. pls teach

i only know basic like sek fan

nah, mou wah ngo mm yik nei

m4 goi1, cing2 jung6 zeng3 kok3 jyut6 ping3
唔該, 請用正確粵拼

This post has been edited by XterNalz: Jul 5 2012, 08:18 PM

+1

Saodeh la...

Yuen Yan

pls explain why "ham ka fu kuai" sometimes means

1) whole family get rich?
2) whole family dai?

ham ka= whole family
fu kuai= prosperous and rich

anyone can help for this one?

zhu yok fan, bak kuh teh, nescafe ngala, maa-pork-lo hung sek ke, yok bao, cha seow, seow yok,

anyone can help for this one as well?

what is songlap in canto ?

i always hear my colleague say 'lai yeh'

wats the meaning ah?

its "mou ku"

female colleague?

means "datang bulan"

it means deep shit

no wor
it's the guys...always say it wan, they always say the word when talking crap

ke lian - Mandarin
hor lin - Cantonese
chai leong - Cantonese
mo ku - Cantonese

got into serious trouble

lah yeh = kena something bad /shitty

lai yeh = datang bulan

tharm voo

far hai ? is it vulgar ah

yes. some ppl add "chow" in front

oic what issit mean? i know hai, but what is 'far' ?

ke lian is mandarin, same as ho lin in cantonese which mean pitiful.
When a dog was neglected by its owner, we say "That chiwawa is so "ho lin".

chai leong means very pitiful until you feel like crying.
Like when you see someone got bullied and abused to the extreme then you feel the pain and feel like crying, you use "chai leong".

It's not "mo ku", "mo ku" is those canned mushroom you see in supermarket. It's "mou ku" which means innocent.
When someone accused you for stealing, you shout out loud "I'm "mou ku", I'm innocent I did not steal or you can say "I'm yuen wong" which means you are being wrongfully accused for something that you did not do.

sei fei lo..

die fat guy.. correcto?

depends.. far hai can also be flower crab, if put chow in front of far hai, it could mean fried flower crab of course the meaning would be different if you pronounce it differently

It's "sei fei lou". In Cantonese, anything that makes you feel frustrated, you add "sei" in front of the sentence.
You use it the same way you use damn it.

it should be "damn fat guy". More to noun than verb.

wow.. thanks for that... really helpful explanation with example. =)

i thought they say 2nd auntie came for period right? if i remember correctly it's "ye lai lei" or something like that right?

another thing to remember about cantonese (and basically all other langugages that have slang, idioms, peribahasa, etc), not all the phrases can be taken literally.... for example, the literal meaning of "sao phei" and it's connotation when used in conversation is quite different. another good example will be "sap sap sui". it's literally meaning and use in conversation is very different....

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Added on July 6, 2012, 2:00 pmanother word i hear but not sure what the meaning is: "heng chuk"

This post has been edited by lostasylum: Jul 6 2012, 02:00 PM

heng chuk = celebrate

ngor hor lin nei 5 sek gong dong wa, chai leong lo nei hai 5 hai tong yan lai gah? yu gor hai ga wa shang gao cha siu hou gor shang nei ....

Lei yeh - A statement describing someone menstruating (literal meaning). This is used colloquially. (a different tone of the same pronunciation can also mean, got into deep shit, or an exclamation of shit has just hit the fan).

A more polite term is 'lei keng khei'. (for menstruation)

In slang term for menstruation, usually people will use 'tai yee ma' (literal translation - big aunty, makcik sulung). Example of usage:

"She is having her tai yee ma". "Her tai yee ma is visiting".

Also could be used to describe someone who is being too difficult.

"What is wrong with her?? Having a taiyeema??"

It's really difficult learning Mandarin or Cantonese in words, because of the tones. Different tones will bring different meaning altogether.

i got the whole sentence except "shang gao cha siu hou gor shang nei".. .what does "shang" mean?

then u shld not bad in gong dong wa....

Hor Lin - pitiful or sympathize - depending on usage. To be used as adjective and transitive verb. eg: I can hor lin someone, and lend him a helping hand. Someone's plight can be very hor lin, and beckons for a lot of sympathy.

Chai Leong - A state of absolute sadness, dejection, bereavement, despair, sorrow (you get the idea). This is purely an adjective. Eg: A person shedding tears watching a chai leong movie. Or a state of a kid crying in a chai leong manner.

Both phrase have only slight difference when used as adjectives, otherwise, they're completely different.

Mou Ku - innocent. Pretty straight forward. Adjective only.

thanks!

ah, it's tai yee ma... not yee lai... hahahaha....
i usually know the intonation of the word, just that i'm not exactly sure what is means or how to use it, so learning it in this way is actually really helpful for me... =)

to give birth to a piece of barbecue pork is better than to give birth to someone like you