The fun of Hong Kong dialect

The fun of Hong Kong dialect Language and writing are tools for human communication. Chinese is, of course, the most proficient tool for us Chinese. Although Hong Kong has been ruled by outsiders for a long time,...

Language is a tool for human communication. Chinese is, of course, the most proficient tool for us Chinese. Although Hong Kong has been ruled by outsiders for a long time, Hong Kong people have always been Chinese. Everyone reads Chinese newspapers, listens to Chinese radios, and watches Chinese TV. Although the words spoken are in dialect, people outside Guangdong may not understand them, but the locals have no reason to understand. The text is a little more complicated and may require some cultural foundation. However, there are not many illiterates, so there are very few people who cannot read Chinese. I am an example myself. I have learned Chinese since primary school and am an old Hong Konger. In the past few decades, I have never had to worry about language issues. But after immigrating to the United States, I realized something was wrong when I returned back, and the further I went back, the more problems there were. Hong Kong dialect is originally Cantonese. In our minds, Hong Kong is basically a part of Guangdong. However, because Hong Kong has long been a mixture of Chinese and foreign languages, both Chinese and English are valued equally, so it is inevitable that foreign languages ​​will be used in Chinese and Chinese and English will be mixed. As a result, Hong Kong dialect has its own style, with a much richer vocabulary than the original Cantonese, such as taking a bus, OK, my FRIEND, and so on, which have never existed before. We overseas Chinese also take the bus, and there are many friends there, so it’s naturally OK. But, do you know what "one goal" means? I talk to my children who live in Hong Kong. I hear the sound of a ball from time to time, but I don’t know what it means. The boy learned his Cantonese from me. Could it be that he was better than his master and now I am lagging behind? That’s absolutely right! Old Hong Kong has become Xinxiangli, precisely because it is too old! It turns out that "one goal" is an extension of "one old", "one withdrawal", and "one pill". Because the Hong Kong dollar has depreciated and prices have risen a lot, one hundred, one thousand, and ten thousand dollars are no longer of much help. If you want to do something, you often have to spend millions. "One goal" exactly means one million dollars! Many street slangs, underworld code words, and many improvised adjectives, nouns, phrases and witticisms have become the mantra of Hong Kong people, leaving us in Xinxiang stunned and confused. At first glance, Hong Kong dialect seems to be more lively and colorful, but at the same time, it also seems to be more foreign and tacky. That night, the TV station held a Miss Chinese beauty pageant. The host asked a beauty who had returned from abroad to participate in the competition, which of the following words was related to eating. Those are Zao Zhao Frog, Qie Lifei, Fishing for Niji, Wenque, Flying Sand and Stones, and Selling Old Pomelo. The old Hong Kong man thought about it for a long time, and finally it dawned on him: "Zhao Frog" refers to fortune telling; "Qie Lifei" refers to an actor who is not very important; "Diao Niji" refers to a taxi driver picking up a few individual tourists at a time; "Wenque" refers to a thief; "Flying Sand and Stone" is a jujube! It actually refers to drinking coffee without milk or sugar. What a vivid, lively and interesting description! As for "selling pomelo", I always know what I mean. I asked friends who immigrated later than us and they didn’t understand. There were three groups of similar words, and questions were asked to three foreign beauties respectively, and of course they all turned in blanks. The second group is "Zougui", "Zouchi" and "Zouqing", and we also ask which sentence is related to eating. I know that "walking away" refers to unlicensed hawkers avoiding the police, and "walking chicken" refers to missing an opportunity. So "walking green" is probably the right answer, but the master of ceremonies still has to point out "avoid green onions" and explain that green onions are green, and then the enlightenment suddenly comes. The third set is even better, fully embodying the characteristics of Hong Kong dialect that use both Chinese and English to overcome the confusion. It's a pity that because I didn't understand what was said, I was only thinking about it and couldn't record it in time. Through some vivid descriptions and appropriate metaphors, a sentence can often be made more vivid, more beautiful, or sound more friendly, more flavorful, and more satisfying. What is "defying death"? This "fighting against death" does not refer to the "fighting against death" that does not change one's mind until death. I can’t explain it clearly, I just know that after some movies that were originally in Cantonese were dubbed into Mandarin, many of the dialogues were no longer so “gritty” or interesting. Dialects indeed have their own unique local color! Words are man-made and words are spoken by people. The richer the life, the richer the language. Hong Kong is one of the most special and complex cities in the world, so its language must be more colorful than other places. There is no doubt about it. China has five major dialects. In order to facilitate communication, many people who speak Cantonese, Fujian, Shanghainese, Hakka or Teochew have learned Mandarin; similarly, inland people who come to Hong Kong from the south also have to learn to speak Cantonese. If a Shanghai woman curses her husband in pure Ningbo dialect, and her Cantonese husband replies in his authentic Taishan dialect, how lively and interesting it will be! Chinese writing (Hanzi) has long been unified. People in Shanghai can still talk about Allah and Nong, but Shanghai newspapers will only publish about me or you. You may not be able to understand Shanghainese, but you definitely won’t be unable to read newspapers published in Shanghai. This is not the case in Hong Kong. Just as the name of this city is "Special Administrative Region", some newspapers are not only incomprehensible to Shanghainese, but even I, an old Hong Konger who writes for newspapers, can't understand them! "Wireless large and small supermarkets, stamping XXX is not worth it!" "XXX gets married, XXX marries a wife, it's very scary." These are the titles of two articles in a certain newspaper, do you understand? Maybe they understand, but there must be people who don’t understand, or don’t fully understand. Maybe this is a good way to force "outsiders" to learn Cantonese. But if everyone insists on talking about it, you say it's salt, and I say it's flavorful, and all you hear is a lot of noise, and saying it means not saying anything. Words are for people to read and words are for people to listen to. If others don’t understand what we say or write, why should we bother with it!