Tidying Up 執嘢

I don’t have time to write anything today! I’ve been overcome by a strange Protestant work ethic and have spent the day tidying up 執嘢 (jap yeh – collect/tidy things) and throwing things away.

The list of phrasal verbs ending in 嘢 (yeh – thing/something/anything) is endless. At least five, off the top of my head. (Which of course can’t be directly translated into Cantonese although there is an execution method from not so ancient China called Opening The Red Flower [開紅花 – hoi hong fa] which meant to bury someone up to their shoulders and lob the top of their heads off. Although that was probably only in Mandarin-speaking places. Jolly Cantoists would never do something like that.)

Where was I? Oh yeah, the yeh. 嘢。

飲嘢 (yam yeh – drink stuff)
食嘢 (sek yeh – eat stuff)
買嘢 (mai yah – buy stuff; shopping)
講嘢 (gong yeh – say stuff, as in 你講嘢呀！ Lei gong yeh ah! You’re talking; you’re full of shit.)
攪嘢 (gau yeh – do stuff, do IT [the sex thing])

Which brings me to a film I haven’t seen in ages. I think it deserves seeing again. We haven’t had a good flu in ages! Touch wood! (The photos show my gaff in a rare state of tidiness. Yes, taken years ago.)