A look into ‘Chinglish’ – the English language among Hongkongers

Chinglish is a unique patchwork of Cantonese and English. In essence, Chinglish translates Cantonese words and expressions into English while retaining its Cantonese pronunciation and syntax – but it's so much more than just mixing two languages together.

via GIPHY

Chinglish expressions can be literal or phonological translations, which often sound like gibberish to native English speakers. If someone says "laugh die me", it means they're laughing so hard that they'll pass out. 'Add oil' is telling you to 'cheer up' or 'keep it up' – not that your car engine requires lubrication. And when you are 'blowing water', you are not blowing air bubbles into the liquid for fun; it just means having small talk. 

In recent years, Chinglish has been lifted from just being poor English to being a hip, local language that Hong Kong people identify with, as no other language has a better grasp of Cantonese sensibilities. Its vocabulary flouts the conventional spellings to bring out a certain attitude known to Cantonese speakers. Deviating from the standard English code and the communicative customs, Chinglish is about being playful, unconcerned, and creative. 

via GIPHY

Chinglish retains the sparkle of Hong Kong’s colloquial culture through various lenses and forms. Phrases such as 'eat jor mud' (what have you eaten) and 'no leung heart' (immoral and corrupt) mix both English and Cantonese into the same sentence, while sayings like 'people mountain people sea' is a literal translation of a Cantonese idiom into English. This blend of the Cantonese tongue and the English alphabet showcases the creativity and adaptability of Hong Kong's bilingual twist of mind.

Chinglish also preserves a peculiar colloquial Cantonese culture – swearing. Although swear words are sometimes considered vulgar and socially inappropriate, they are the shining heirloom of Hong Kong's culture. Characters in local movies extensively swear for better characterization, and it's partly what makes the audience love them even more. 

via GIPHY

Cantonese is swear-studded, and Chinglish inherits large fortunes of expletives from its potty-mouthed Cantonese mother. Someone apologising with a 'sor9ly' (sor-gau-ly) is more sassy than remorseful. This is because the number 9, or 'gau' in Cantonese, is the Cantonese euphemism for male genitals. Tossing it around while apologising is as inappropriate as it is comical. 

via GIPHY

Meanwhile, the use of 'exact7ly' (exact-chat-ly) is both affirmative and provocative. The number 7, pronounced 'chat' in Cantonese, is used to replace the 'T' sound to put emphasis on how much one agrees with something. So instead of just saying "yeah", it's more of a "hell yeah!" The art of swearing is effortlessly translated into the Chinglish vocabulary, making it all the more funny and subversive. 

But perhaps the most important quality both Cantonese and Chinglish share is how it shapes the unique trademark of Hong Kong people. It is never difficult for native Cantonese speakers to understand Chinglish, but to English speakers or mainland Chinese people, these English scripts cannot be translated by Google or a dictionary. In this sense, Chinglish serves as a gatekeeper to differentiate Hong Kong people from the rest of the world, making it an effective identity marker.

Over the past few years, the local community has decided to honour and preserve Hong Kong's remaining tiles of its cultural mosaic. Lovingly cherished and proudly spoken by the people of Hong Kong, Chinglish is the abstraction of what makes this city dynamic, youthful, and distinctive.

via GIPHY

In 2018, the Chinglish expression 'add oil' was acknowledged by the English-speaking world when the phrase was officially added to the Oxford English Dictionary. If someone tells you that saying 'add oil' is wrong, toss them the world's most authoritative record for the English language, pause, and anticipate a look of surprise.

No matter where you are, Cantonese expressions will always evoke the warmth and familiarity of living in Hong Kong. It's not just the mother tongue but also the mother lode of Hong Kong's sensibilities and cultural identity. After all, Hong Kong is not just a modern wonderland where the East meets West, but also a cradle of its own people, languages, and culture.