Language Question

[PJ]

James,

 

You have a chicken logo. In Cantonese, a chicken is a slant for something. See if you know what it means.

 

-- Tony

 

Okay, I pulled this quote buried deep in one of the old conversations. I always thought the expression for "hooker" was jo gai, or literally "work street". Well, "street" and "chicken" are pronounced identically in Cantonese, and you only tell them apart by context, right?

 

*sigh* somehow, I think I may be making a mistake in starting this thread, but I am curious because honestly this expression has come up several times in the movies I watched recently (I suppose that's what you get for learning a language via movies instead of language tapes).

 

Thanks,

 

P.J.

[tonado]

PJ,

 

Chicken (or Hooker for slant) and Street don't sound identical in Cantonese.

 

 

Street - pronounced like "Guy"

 

Chicken - Gyte (sound like byte)

 

Jo Gai means "be a chicken" - slant for "be a hooker"

 

-- Tony

[rsun]

It's very funny how you change some tones and then suddenly it's a total different word, what's worse is that the exact same character can have different pronounciations, at least that's how it is in Mandarin.

[tonado]

HK people also like to add some English to the Cantonese too.

I saw some of the phrases in movies or mini-series

 

For example:

 

"Cha bo" is tea pot in Cantonese. If you called someone "cha bo", it means you are implying that person is a "trouble" maker.

 

---------------------------------------------------

Uncle Sam, where are our visas?

 

-- Tony

[rsun]

All of us Chinese always mix those Chinese/English words together now, they called Chinglish or something.

[PJ]

Tony,

 

Thanks for the information!

 

Hehehe ... it's hard to pick up words correctly watching movies because they talk so quickly.

 

And all this time I guess I've been mispronouncing "chicken"

 

Thanks,

 

P.J.

[tonado]

PJ,

 

If you want a fork in a Chinese restaurant, you may request a "cha". If you don't speak with a correct tone, you may get tea instead.

 

-- Tony

[tonado]

James,

 

"Five gi" is chop stick in Cantonese. It sounds like 'fast son' in Cantonese. That is why it is good to give chop stick for gift.

 

Like my new signature. It is cool playing with this site.

 

 

[PJ]

Ummm Tony, your signature image doesn't seem to be working. Sorry, just thought I'd let you know.

 

Thanks,

 

P.J.

[rsun]

Maybe we should add a forum that deals with the Chinese language?

[tonado]

PJ,

 

Is it working now? I made a change.

 

It looks fine here.

[LaoMao]

Richard, You have many Chinese characters on your website, you even don't know Chinese?

[tonado]

I give up the signature stuff. It won't let me do dynamic HTML.

 

[tonado]

I didn't know that elight is a woman.

[rsun]

I know a little Chinese but am learning, what can you say, I'm an ABC (American Born Chinese).