| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to CantoneseClass101.com. I'm John. |
| Siuling: And I'm Siuling! |
| John: This is Must-Know Cantonese Slang Words and Phrases, Season 1, Lesson 1. In this lesson, you'll learn common slang expressions used in the workplace, part 1. |
| John: Learn various expressions you can use when you're talking to your coworkers. |
| SLANG EXPRESSIONS |
| John: The expressions you'll be learning in this lesson are: |
| Siuling: 擦鞋 (caat3 haai4) |
| Siuling: 吞樸 (tan1 pok1) |
| Siuling: 卸膊 (se3 bok3) |
| Siuling: 鐵飯碗 (tit3 faan6 wun2) |
| John: Siuling, what's our first expression? |
| Siuling: 擦鞋 (caat3 haai4) |
| John: Which literally means "to polish shoes." But when it's used as a slang expression, it means "to fawn; to suck up to; brown-nose." |
| Siuling: [SLOW] 擦鞋 [NORMAL] 擦鞋 |
| John: Listeners, please repeat. |
| Siuling: 擦鞋 |
| [pause - 5 sec.] |
| John: Use this slang expression when describing the action of fawning or brown-nosing to impress a superior. |
| John: Now let's hear an example sentence. |
| Siuling: [NORMAL] 佢乜都唔識做，淨係識擦鞋。 [SLOW] 佢乜都唔識做，淨係識擦鞋。 |
| John: "He doesn't know how to do anything but to suck up." |
| Siuling: [NORMAL] 佢乜都唔識做，淨係識擦鞋。 |
| John: Okay, what's the next expression? |
| Siuling: 吞樸 (tan1 pok1) |
| John: literally meaning "to swallow simple." As a slang expression, it means "to slack off (at work)." |
| Siuling: [SLOW] 吞樸 [NORMAL] 吞樸 |
| John: Listeners, please repeat. |
| Siuling: 吞樸 |
| [pause - 5 sec.] |
| John: Use this slang expression when referring to someone who disappears while on the job. |
| John: Now let's hear an example sentence. |
| Siuling: [NORMAL] 條友仔成日吞樸。 [SLOW] 條友仔成日吞樸。 |
| John: "That guy always slacks off at work." |
| Siuling: [NORMAL] 條友仔成日吞樸。 |
| John: Okay, what's our next expression? |
| Siuling: 卸膊 (se3 bok3) |
| John: This literally means "to unload from shoulder." But when it's used as a slang expression, it means "to deny responsibility; to blame others." |
| Siuling: [SLOW] 卸膊 [NORMAL] 卸膊 |
| John: Listeners, please repeat. |
| Siuling: 卸膊 |
| [pause - 5 sec.] |
| John: Use this slang expression when referring to someone who always blames others for their own responsibility. |
| John: Now let's hear an example sentence. |
| Siuling: [NORMAL] 佢最叻卸膊。 [SLOW] 佢最叻卸膊。 |
| John: "He's really good at blaming other people." |
| Siuling: [NORMAL] 佢最叻卸膊。 |
| John: Okay, what's the last expression? |
| Siuling: 鐵飯碗 (tit3 faan6 wun2) |
| John: literally meaning "iron rice bowl." But when it's used as a slang expression, it means "a very secure job or source of income." |
| Siuling: [SLOW] 鐵飯碗 [NORMAL] 鐵飯碗 |
| John: Listeners, please repeat. |
| Siuling: 鐵飯碗 |
| [pause - 5 sec.] |
| John: Use this slang expression when referring to a job that generates stable income. |
| John: Now let's hear an example sentence. |
| Siuling: [NORMAL] 公務員有鐵飯碗。 [SLOW] 公務員有鐵飯碗。 |
| John: "Civil servants have a very secure source of income." |
| Siuling: [NORMAL] 公務員有鐵飯碗。 |
| QUIZ |
| John: Okay listeners, are you ready to be quizzed on the expressions you just learned? I’ll describe four situations, and you’ll choose the right expression to use in your reply. Are you ready? |
| John: A staff member is hiding in the storage room and avoiding work. |
| [pause - 5 sec.] |
| Siuling: 吞樸 |
| John: "to slack off (at work)" |
| John: A staff is trying to impress the manager and get on his good side by praising him a lot. |
| [pause - 5 sec.] |
| Siuling: 擦鞋 |
| John: "to fawn; to suck up to; brown-nose" |
| John: You found a job that provides steady income and benefits. |
| [pause - 5 sec.] |
| Siuling: 鐵飯碗 |
| John: "a very secure job or source of income" |
| John: The politicians shrugged off the issue and denied they made such promises. |
| [pause - 5 sec.] |
| Siuling: 卸膊 |
| John: "to deny responsibility; blame others" |
Outro
|
| John: There you have it; you’ve mastered four Cantonese slang expressions! We have more vocab lists available at CantoneseClass101.com so be sure to check them out. Thanks, everyone, and see you next time! |
| Siuling: 拜拜. |
Comments
HideHi Listeners! Do you know any other related slang expression? Post them in the comments.
Hi! Steven,
你好！ (nei5 hou2! "Hello!") 😊
你話你係美籍華人，出生喺美國，咁你一定好叻啦！(nei5 waa6 nei5 hai6 mei5 zik6 waa4 jan4, ceot1 saang1 hai2 mei5 gwok3, gam2 nei5 jat1 ding6 hou2 lek1 laa1! "You mentioned you're an American-born Chinese, born in the USA, that's amazing!")
如果你有咩問題，隨時問我哋啦！(jyu4 gwo2 nei5 jau5 me1 man6 tai4, ceoi4 si4 man6 ngo5 dei6 laa1! "If you have any questions, feel free to ask us!")
Thank You
Team CantoneseClass101.com
我是美籍華人，出生在美國
Hi Ilyana,
Thank you for your feedback. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.😇
Good luck with your language studies.
Sincerely,
Sybil
Team CantoneseClass101.com
It's a pity to hear that this level is still being taught in English.
it would have been nice if ADVANCED level is being taught in Cantonese only by two native speakers. According to the transcript, the part in English is not that complicated. It could have been an extra way to practice. I hope, if any new lessons are produced, they are in Cantonese not English.
Hi Marquis,
Slang is customary expressions that may sound weird when you first hear it. But native speakers use it very often to suggest some specific idea. They usually mean something other than what they appear to mean.
Arnold
Team CantoneseClass101.com
I can't type cantonese on my keyboard,but what does slang mean?
thanks
regards marquisck
Hi Vincent,
賴 is a verb that means attributing another person your responsibility. It contains a sense of blaming. The example sentence omits a word "responsibility" that, if included, would sound exactly as "unloading responsibility to me". Now does it make sense to you?
賴 [laai6] - attribute to another person one's responsibility
晒 [saai3] - everything; used to modify the amount/extent of the verb that goes before
落 [lok6] - to; a preposition
度 [dou6] - the place; when combined with pronoun (我度), it means my place. It can be seemed as saying "... on me"
Arnold
Team CantoneseClass101.com
In the sample sentence for 卸膊 (se3 bok3), the second clause 賴晒落我度(laai6 saai3 lok6 ngo5 dou6) appears to be interpreted as "and blames it on me." I'm guessing that the phrase literally says something like [my manager] "relies entirely to fall on me over here," but I'm not sure and this is not clear Can you clarify what this phrase means and what it says literally, in particular what 賴(laai6), 晒(saai3), 落 (lok6) and 度(dou6) mean in that phrase? Thank you again for your helpful assistance!
Hello robert groulx,
You are very welcome. 😇
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
Good luck with your language studies.
Kind regards,
利凡特
Team CantoneseClass101.com
thanks for the lesson
my favoreite phrase is : 鐵飯碗
robert
Hello Nat C,
Welcome! Great to have you here!
Feel free to let us know if you have any questions.
Levente
Team CantoneseClass101.com
i'm from hk but still i dont know some slangs. thank you for making such a great website.
Hi Charles Siu,
Thanks for sharing your understanding of the terms. Great! 😉
Ada
Team CantoneseClass101.com
擦鞋 means literally to polish someone's shoes (in an attempt to gain favour with someone).
鐵飯碗 is literally a metal rice bowl, a resource for living that will never break.
Hello Vincent,
Thank you for taking the time to leave us a comment. 😇
Let us know if you have any questions!
Kind regards,
利凡特 (Levente)
Team CantoneseClass101.com
Nice Slangs Learnt...
Thank You...!
Hello Blake,
Very good! ?
軟飯王 (jyun5 faan6 wong4) literally means "soft rice king". It indicates a man who always depends on the woman to support his living cost.
Siuling
Team CantoneseClass101.com
軟飯王 jyun5 faan6 wong4