Deep-Felt Advice From The Arse

I’ve just come back from a rather brilliant yam cha at Holly Restaurant in 東涌 (“Tung” [Dung] Chung), followed by shopping for tomorrow’s Dinner For Spares. (Yes I’ve started a new scheme: Come as you are to Sichuan dinners at my house and meet new people instead of scrambling to get eight or more people together on the same day. The next one will be in the beginning of November.)

As usual all the people working in the restaurant and market in Tung Chung complimented me on my Cantonese, as if they had never met me before. (I see them every week.) Yes, I can say 早晨 (Jo san – morning) and buy spring onions at the same time. Still, a bit of fawning never goes amiss, and everything’s better than being ignored or kicked in the face.

But when I came home I fell off the cloud of Canto-induced euphoria quick smart. My student, let’s call him Flying Eagle, sent me a list of Cantonese expressions with “translations” (explanations) also in Cantonese characters. I hardly knew any of them!!! I mean, I could read the characters but didn’t know the expressions.
Must kill self. One I actually had heard before was: 鬼佬月餅 (gwai lou yuet beeng) which is a deep and intricate pun. Gwai lou yuet beeng, Damned Foreigner (English speaking) Moon Cake. “Moon Cake” in English but with that special Hong Kong pronunciation: Mun Kekk (悶極). Mun Kekk: Bored Extreme. So, ‘Gwailou Moon Cake’ means bored senseless!

Flying Eagle got the list from one of his guys in Cantonese language exchange and here comes my advice: As well as taking lessons from me, please consider joining for example Meetup for language exchange sessions. Two of my students do, and they’re improving faster than other victims. You’ll thank me for it later!

好悶 (Hou mun – bored)
蔥 (Jung – spring onions)
飛鷹 (Fei yeng – Flying Eagle)