Cantonese profanity

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The five most common vulgar words in Cantonese profanity are Diu (屌), gau (𨳊), lan (𨶙), tsat (𨳍) and hai (屄), where the first literally means fuck, while the rest are sexual organs of either gender.[1] They are sometimes collectively known as the "outstanding five in Cantonese" (廣東話一門五傑).[2] These five words are generally offensive and they give rise to a variety of euphemisms. Other curse phrases, such as puk gai (仆街) and ham gaa caan (咸家鏟), are also common.

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[edit] Vulgar words

[edit] Diu

Main article: Diu (Cantonese)
The written form of diu commonly seen in Hong Kong
The written form of diu commonly seen in Hong Kong

Diu (Traditional Chinese: 屌 or 𨳒; jyutping: diu2), literally means fuck, is a common profanity in Cantonese. The word diu was originally a noun meaning the penis, but it was later used as a verb.[3] Although it is considered to be a vulgar word in Cantonese, it is used by young people in Taiwan to mean "cool" and in this context it is not censored on TV broadcasts and still generally used today.

In a manner similar to the English word fuck, diu is also used to express dismay, disgrace, and disapproval in Cantonese. For example, someone may shout "diu nei!" ("fuck you!" or "fuck off!") at somebody when she finds the other person annoying. A common usage is the highly offensive phrase "Diu lei loh moh!" (屌你老母) that literally means "fuck your mother."

The word diu is generally considered to be offensive and in its place a variety of euphemisms exist, including tsiu (超), yiu (妖) and tiu (挑).[4]

[edit] Gau

Gau (Traditional Chinese: 𨳊; jyutping: gau1) is a common vulgar word in Cantonese that literally means penis.[1] It is sometimes erroneously written as 尻, which has the same pronunciation but means the end of spine or bump instead.[5] For instance, the Cantonese phrase mo lei tau gau (無厘頭尻) that means "makes no sense" was cut to mo lei tau to avoid the sound gau.[5] A common usage is the phrase ngong gau (戇𨳊), an adjective that may be translated as a "dumbass".[6]

[edit] Lan

In Cantonese lan (Traditional Chinese: 𨶙; jyutping: lan2) is another vulgar word that means penis.[1] It is often erroneously written as 撚, which has the same pronunciation but means "to tease" and "to toy with" instead. Before the 1960s the character 撚 was commonly used in non-vulgar context, such as 撚手小菜 (signature dish) and 撚化 (to play a practical joke on).[7] But in recent decades the character 撚 is generally considered to be equivalent to the vulgar word 𨶙. A common usage is the phrase lan yeung (撚樣) which maybe translated into English as "Dickface".[7]

[edit] Tsat

In Cantonese, 𨳍 means "to stab" (i.e. to insert into the body with a knife). "Tsat lei di ___" (𨳍你的_) refers to stabbing a body organ.

[edit] Hai

In Cantonese hai (Traditional Chinese: 屄 or 閪; jyutping: hai1) is a common vulgar word that literally means vagina. The English equivalent is "cunt". The Chinese character 屄 consists of two parts: the upper part is 尸 that means "body" while the bottom part 穴 means "a hole". The Chinese character thus literally means a "hole at the bottom of the body".[1] A common usage is the phrase so hai (傻屄) that may be translated as "dickhead". Since the character 屄 is pronounced as "bi" in standard Mandarin, the phrase is sometimes written as "傻B".[8]

The word hai can also mean total failure as in the phrase hai saai (屄曬). The Chinese character 曬 means "to expose to the sun", but in Cantonese it is also used as a verbal particle to stress the action.[9] To further stress the failure, sometimes the phrase hai gau saai is used (the word gau that means penis is put in between the original phrase). Since this phrase is highly offensive (it consists two of the five vulgar words), a euphemism or xiehouyu, a kind of Chinese "proverb", is sometimes used. As in a normal xiehouyu, it consists of two elements: the former segment presents a scenario while the latter provides the rationale thereof. One would often only state the first part, expecting the listener to know the second. The first part is "a man and a woman having a sunbath (naked)" (男女日光浴). Since the penis and vagina are both exposed to the sun, the second part is hai gau saai (屄𨳊曬)── a pun for total failure.[9] Therefore, if one wants to say that something is a total failure, she only has to say 男女日光浴, and the listener will understand the intended meaning.

[edit] Other curse phrases

[edit] Puk gai

The written form of puk kai commonly seen in Hong Kong.
The written form of puk kai commonly seen in Hong Kong.

Puk gai, pok kai or puk gai (Traditional Chinese: 仆街; Jyutping: puk1 gaai1), literally means "falling onto street", is a common curse phrase in Cantonese that may be translated into English as "may you drop dead on the street". It is sometimes used as a noun to refer to an annoying person that roughly means a "prick". The phrase can also be used in daily life under a variety of situations to express annoyance, disgrace or other emotions.[10] Since the phrase does not involve any sexual organs or reference to sex, some argue that it should not be considered as profanity.[11] Nevertheless, "PK" is often used as an euphemism for the phrase.[12] The written form can be seen on graffiti in Hong Kong and other places in Guangdong, China.

[edit] Ham gaa caan

Ham gaa caan (Traditional Chinese: 咸家鏟; Jyutping: ham6 gaa1 caan2) is another common curse phrase in Cantonese that literally means "may your whole family be dead".[10] The first character is sometimes written as 冚, mainly because it has the same pronunciation. Like puk gai, the phrase can both be used to mean "prick" or to express annoyance.[10]

[edit] Legal issues

In Hong Kong there are specific laws that forbid the usage of Cantonese profanity in public. For instance, by Hong Kong law any person shall not "use obscene language... in Ocean Park", and "an offence is liable on conviction to a fine at level 1 and to imprisonment for 1 month."[13] In the MTR, it is prohibited to "use any threatening, abusive, obscene or offensive language...."[14] However, despite the explicit prohibition of various laws, the exact definition of "obscene language" is not given in the ordinance.[15]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Pang, 3.
  2. ^ Pang, preface.
  3. ^ Pang, 7.
  4. ^ Pang, 116-117.
  5. ^ a b Pang, 29.
  6. ^ Pang, 108.
  7. ^ a b Pang, 102.
  8. ^ Pang, 10.
  9. ^ a b Pang, 109.
  10. ^ a b c Curse phrase dictionary (Chinese). Cantonese Profanity Research Site. Retrieved on 2008-02-08.
  11. ^ Pang, 55.
  12. ^ Pang, 56.
  13. ^ Hong Kong Ordinance Cap 388B SECT 5 Conduct of public.
  14. ^ Hong Kong Ordinance Cap 556B BYLAW 28H Abusive language.
  15. ^ Legal issues of using obscene language (Chinese). Cantonese Profanity Research Site. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.

[edit] References

  • Robert S. Bauer and Paul K. Benedict (1997). Modern Cantonese Phonology. Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter. ISBN 3110148935. Part of the chapter 3 concerns Cantonese profanity.
  • Kingsley Bolton and Christopher Hutton, "Bad boys and bad language: chou hau and the sociolinguistics of swearwords in Hong Kong Cantonese", in Grant Evans and Maria Tam ed. (1997). Hong Kong: the Anthropology of a Chinese Metropolis. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon. ISBN 0700706011.
  • Pang, Chi Ming (2007). Xiao gou lan ca xie (小狗懶擦鞋): a Study of Hong Kong Profanity Culture (in Chinese). Hong Kong Subculture Publishing. ISBN 978-962-992-161-3. 

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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