Cantonese slang is a type of

slang Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-g ...

used in areas where the

Cantonese language Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding ar ...

is spoken. It is commonly spoken in Guangdong, Guangxi, Macao and Hong Kong.

History

As ties with Hong Kong and

Mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

increased, usage of Cantonese slang and adaptations of Cantonese slang into other Chinese dialects increased within the Mainland. This allows easier communication between the people.

Usage

Linda Chiu-han Lai, author of "Film and Enigmatization," said that it is not possible to translate Cantonese slang, like how slang in other languages cannot be translated.Lai, p
242
Wong Man Tat Parco wrote a thesis on the usage of Cantonese slang by young people in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

. He said " terms of the frequency of slang use, the present research findings suggest that females are by no means passive slang users nowadays. Therefore the traditional belief that males are slang dominators and females slang eschewers... does not hold true at present time any longer."

Types of slang

" Triad language" is a type of Cantonese slang. It is censored out of television and films, and triad language. Kingsley Bolton and Christopher Hutton, the authors of "Bad Boys and Bad Language: Chòu háu and the Sociolinguistics of Swear Words in Cantonese," said that regardless of official discouragement of the use of triad language, " iad language or triad-associated language is an important source of innovation in Hong Kong Cantonese."Bolton and Hutton, p
300
''Chòu háu'' (粗口, Jyutping: cou1 hau2, Mandarin Pinyin: ''Cūkǒu'', Lit: Coarse Mouth) refers to sexually explicit taboo words. In Hong Kong print media, feature films, and television, such words are censored. Bolton and Hutton said " e use of ''chòu háu'' is often seen as a marker of criminality of triad-membership, and official agencies tend to view the spread of ''chòu háu'' into the mainstream of Hong Kong society and its media as indicating a general crisis, as being symptomatic of a rising tide of social disorder and alienation." Two way of talking in Cantonese slang is "

Moh lei tau ''Mo lei tau'' () is a type of slapstick humour associated with Hong Kong popular culture that developed during the late 20th century. It is a phenomenon which has grown largely from its presentation in modern film media. Its humour arises from t ...

." Chow Sing Chi, a comedy actor, started the slang in the 1990s. "Moh lei tau" became popular with younger people and secondary school students, and the groups began to use it. The slang made Chow well-known and financially prosperous. Some prominent members of Hong Kong society believed that the slang was lowering the quality of the language and asked youth to stop using it. Sue Wright, author of ''One Country, Two Systems, Three Languages: A Survey of Changing Language Use in Hong Kong'', said in 1997 that "The rage is over now; the role of television in starting it remains indisputable."

Attitudes towards slang

The authorities in

monitor film and television for slang, removing what is considered to be inappropriate. Kingsley Bolton and Christopher Hutton, the authors of "Bad Boys and Bad Language: Chòu háu and the Sociolinguistics of Swear Words in Cantonese," said that Hong Kong authorities have far less tolerance of vulgar words than in western societies such as the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and that aspect is "seems to distinguish the situation" in Hong Kong.

Slang terms

Many slang terms in Hong Kong are used to refer to minority groups, including: * ''

gweilo ''Gweilo'' or (, pronounced ) is a common Cantonese slang term for Westerners. In the absence of modifiers, it refers to white people and has a history of racially deprecatory and pejorative use. Cantonese speakers frequently use to refer to ...

'' (鬼佬; literally "ghost man") - means foreigners (mainly US and UK). * ''bak gwei'' (白鬼; literally "white ghost") - means

white people White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view. Description of populations as ...

. * ''hak gwei'' (黑鬼; literally "black ghost") - means black people. * ''ga jai'' (㗎仔) ale ''ga mui'' (㗎妹) emaleand ''lo baat tau'' (蘿白頭; literally

radish The radish (''Raphanus raphanistrum'' subsp. ''sativus'') is an edible root vegetable of the family Brassicaceae that was domesticated in Asia prior to Roman times. Radishes are grown and consumed throughout the world, being mostly eaten raw ...

head) - means

Japanese people The are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Japanese archipelago."人類学上は，旧石器時代あるいは縄文時代以来，現在の北海道〜沖縄諸島（南西諸島）に住んだ集団を祖先にもつ人々。" () Jap ...

. * ''bun mui'' (賓妹) emale ''bun jai'' (賓仔) ale- means Filipina/Filipino domestic employees. * ''ah cha'' (阿差) or ''ah sing'' (阿星) - meanss Indian and

Pakistani people Pakistanis ( ur, , translit=Pākistānī Qaum, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. According to the 2017 Pakistani national census, the population of Pakistan stood at over 213 million people, making it the w ...

. Lo, p
69

Significance of slang

Linda Chiu-han Lai, author of "Film and Enigmatization," said that "The power of Cantonese slang is instantaneously differentiating at the moment of utterance: it distinguishes not only Cantonese from Mandarin speakers, but also Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong from those who live in places like

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, Canton,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and so on—part of the Cantonese diaspora."

References

* Adams, Michael. ''Slang: The People's Poetry''.

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2009. , 9780195314632. * Bolton, Kingsley and Christopher Hutton. "Bad Boys and Bad Language: ''Chòu háu'' and the Sociolinguistics of Swear Words in Cantonese." In: Evans, Grant and Maria Tam Siu-mi (editors). ''Hong Kong: The Anthropology of a Chinese Metropolis''.

University of Hawaii Press A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

, 1997. , 9780824820053. * Hsing, You-Tien. ''Making Capitalism in China: The Taiwan Connection''.

, 1998. , 9780195103243. * Lai, Linda Chiu-han. "Chapter Ten: Film and Enigmatization: Nostalgia, Nonsense, and Remembering." in Yau, Esther Ching-Mei. ''At Full Speed: Hong Kong Cinema in a Borderless World''.

University of Minnesota Press The University of Minnesota Press is a university press that is part of the University of Minnesota. It had annual revenues of just over $8 million in fiscal year 2018. Founded in 1925, the University of Minnesota Press is best known for its boo ...

, 2001. , 9780816632350. * Lo, Kwai-Cheung. "Invisible Neighbors: Racial Minorities and the Hong Kong Chinese Community." In: Kerr, Douglas. ''Critical Zone 3: A Forum of Chinese and Western Knowledge''.

Hong Kong University Press Hong Kong University Press is the university press of the University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially t ...

, April 30, 2009. , 9789622098572. * Wright, Sue. ''One Country, Two Systems, Three Languages: A Survey of Changing Language Use in Hong Kong''. Multilingual Matters, 1997. , 9781853593963.