Learn idiomatic expressions that are used as adjectives
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| INTRODUCTION |
| John: Idiomatic ABB Expressions Used as Adjectives, Part 1 |
| 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 22. In this lesson, you'll learn idiomatic ABB expressions used as adjectives, part 1. |
| John: Master your Cantonese by learning more words that you may hear in colloquial situations. Use them with your friends. Similar to the last few lessons, we'll focus on the Cantonese ABB adjectives, which start with an adjective, followed by a reduplicated syllable. In many cases, the reduplicated syllable has no meaning on its own but has a sound-symbolic function. |
| SLANG EXPRESSIONS |
| John: The expressions you'll be learning in this lesson are: |
| Siuling: 肥嘟嘟 (fei4 dyut1 dyut1) |
| Siuling: 瘦蜢蜢 (sau3 maang2 maang2) |
| Siuling: 靜雞雞 (zing6 gai1 gai1) |
| Siuling: 無啦啦 (mou4 laa1 laa1) |
| John: Siuling, what's our first expression? |
| Siuling: 肥嘟嘟 (fei4 dyut1 dyut1) |
| John: literally meaning "fat plump plump." But when it's used as a slang expression, it means "chubby; fat and stumpy." |
| Siuling: [SLOW] 肥嘟嘟 [NORMAL] 肥嘟嘟 |
| John: Listeners, please repeat. |
| Siuling: 肥嘟嘟 |
| [pause - 5 sec.] |
| John: Use this slang expression when someone or something is chubby, mostly in a cute way. |
| John: Now let's hear an example sentence. |
| Siuling: [NORMAL] 套戲入面個細路肥嘟嘟，好得意。 [SLOW] 套戲入面個細路肥嘟嘟，好得意。 |
| John: "The kid in the movie is so chubby. So cute." |
| Siuling: [NORMAL] 套戲入面個細路肥嘟嘟，好得意。 |
| John: Okay, what's the next expression? |
| Siuling: 瘦蜢蜢 (sau3 maang2 maang2) |
| John: which literally means "thin grasshopper grasshopper." When it's used as a slang expression, it means "skinny." |
| Siuling: [SLOW] 瘦蜢蜢 [NORMAL] 瘦蜢蜢 |
| John: Listeners, please repeat. |
| Siuling: 瘦蜢蜢 |
| [pause - 5 sec.] |
| John: Use this slang expression when someone is too skinny. |
| John: Now let's hear an example sentence. |
| Siuling: [NORMAL] 睇你，瘦蜢蜢，食多啲嘢啦！ [SLOW] 睇你，瘦蜢蜢，食多啲嘢啦！ |
| John: "Look at you, you're so skinny; you must eat more!" |
| Siuling: [NORMAL] 睇你，瘦蜢蜢，食多啲嘢啦！ |
| John: Okay, what's our next expression? |
| Siuling: 靜雞雞 (zing6 gai1 gai1) |
| John: literally meaning "quiet chicken chicken." But when it's used as a slang expression, it means "extremely quiet; secretive." |
| Siuling: [SLOW] 靜雞雞 [NORMAL] 靜雞雞 |
| John: Listeners, please repeat. |
| Siuling: 靜雞雞 |
| [pause - 5 sec.] |
| John: Use this slang expression when describing an action that is done in secret. |
| John: Now let's hear an example sentence. |
| Siuling: [NORMAL] 靜雞雞話你知。 [SLOW] 靜雞雞話你知。 |
| John: "I'll tell you in secret." |
| Siuling: [NORMAL] 靜雞雞話你知。 |
| John: Okay, what's the last expression? |
| Siuling: 無啦啦 (mou4 laa1 laa1) |
| John: which literally means "without la-la." As a slang expression, it means "suddenly; without reason." |
| Siuling: [SLOW] 無啦啦 [NORMAL] 無啦啦 |
| John: Listeners, please repeat. |
| Siuling: 無啦啦 |
| [pause - 5 sec.] |
| John: Use this slang expression when things happened for no reason or suddenly. |
| John: Now let's hear an example sentence. |
| Siuling: [NORMAL] 無啦啦唔見咗一千蚊！ [SLOW] 無啦啦唔見咗一千蚊！ |
| John: "I lost $1000 just like that!" |
| Siuling: [NORMAL] 無啦啦唔見咗一千蚊！ |
| 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: Your brother is very skinny. |
| [pause - 5 sec.] |
| Siuling: 瘦蜢蜢 |
| John: "skinny" |
| John: Your other brother is chubby. |
| [pause - 5 sec.] |
| Siuling: 肥嘟嘟 |
| John: "chubby; fat and stumpy" |
| John: Something happened suddenly. |
| [pause - 5 sec.] |
| Siuling: 無啦啦 |
| John: "suddenly; without reason" |
| John: You’re doing something secretively. |
| [pause - 5 sec.] |
| Siuling: 靜雞雞 |
| John: "extremely quiet; secretive" |
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. |
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