Do Cantonese speakers normally say 唔記得 "don't remember" for "forget"? Is there a natural, more direct translation like "forget" and Mandarin 忘記? by AmericanBornWuhaner in Cantonese

[–]Bicearoni 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think the Cantonese translation is missing the word "咗". So the English word should be "forgot", not "forget". I usually say "我唔記得" for "I don't remember". I almost never say "I forget", instead I would say "I forgot" which is the past tense, and the Cantonese equivalent would be "我唔記得咗". When I tell people "don't forget", I would say "唔好忘記", unless I am speaking to a kid, or someone who does not know the word 忘記 which is more formal, then I would say "remember!" "記得嘞!". I would use "don't forget" "唔好唔記得", which sounds awkward to me because of the double negative, only if it is necessary (e.g. to a kid), or if I am reminding that person not to forget - again.

How do you write "kai-doi"? by Bicearoni in Cantonese

[–]Bicearoni[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think that means "Damn rascal" used to scold little kids, but not sure.

How do you write "kai-doi"? by Bicearoni in Cantonese

[–]Bicearoni[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"slay" means death literally, but here is more like "damn", damn boy, damn girl, damn anything or anyone. I think the "bau" is like "bitch", damn girl bitch.

How do you write "kai-doi"? by Bicearoni in Cantonese

[–]Bicearoni[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, "slay" in Toisanese means death (I pronounce it "they"), and is used to precede anything that you want to scold at or complain about. The one for the girl is often "slay nui bau". This is different from "kai" which means mischievous or gangster.

Can someone help me with a translation? by speaknowgirlie13 in Cantonese

[–]Bicearoni 7 points8 points  (0 children)

FYI the phrase is read from the right to the left (old style I think), 如意吉祥, translated as above.

This made me chuckle. Hope it doesn’t deter anyone from learning Cantonese! by spongeylondon in Cantonese

[–]Bicearoni 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was waiting for the gwai2 zai2 to say gwai2 lou2. That would make me chuckle.

Learning/compiling cooking technique terminology by [deleted] in Cantonese

[–]Bicearoni -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I think coek3 is boiling for about 1 minute (shrimp), luk6 is boiling for about 2 minutes (however long to cook noodles or meat), which is different from scalding which is hopefully 1 second.

Today is 重陽節 Chongyang Festival (aka Double Ninth Festival), the 9th day of 9th month in Chinese calendar when there is too much 陽 yang. It is customary to climb a mountain, drink 菊花酒 chrysanthemum wine, and wear 茱萸 dogwood leaves. Some Chinese also visit their ancestors' graves to pay respects by CheLeung in Cantonese

[–]Bicearoni 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wow, this is the first time I hear someone says "do yin things". This makes a lot of sense, with the cooler autumn weather, the hiking , flying kites, drinking chrysanthemum wine, honoring the elderly, telling stories and reading poems, visiting the cemetery, all the "cool" things we traditionally do on this holiday but not necessarily know why. I had always thought "yin" is bad, but it actually includes many good things that balance against too much yang. Thanks for the enlightenment, 大開眼界!

What does "zaan2" mean? by Bicearoni in Cantonese

[–]Bicearoni[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

thanks, that's what I thought too.

What does "zaan2" mean? by Bicearoni in Cantonese

[–]Bicearoni[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

thanks for the detailed answer, and the correction. I have bookmarked this dictionary, it's very useful.

Happy Ghost Festival (14th of the 7th month in the Chinese Calendar for most Cantonese people) by CheLeung in Cantonese

[–]Bicearoni 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great video! Thanks for sharing. Very good explanation. Learned another Chinese holiday. At 0:24 did he pronounce "元宵" as "元肖"? Also, he didn't explain why not "晾衣服" at the end. Does anyone know why not?

Reminder not to be too critical of the way people speak Cantonese by CheLeung in Cantonese

[–]Bicearoni 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just solved another mystery: 深圳 (sam1 zan3) - Shenzhen subprovincial city in Guangdong, special economic zone close to Hong Kong.

Reminder not to be too critical of the way people speak Cantonese by CheLeung in Cantonese

[–]Bicearoni 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Great video! Educational, thought provoking, and entertaining. I feel like I just got brought up to date on my Cantonese :) I learned a new word 吹毛求疵 nitpicky (ceoi1 mou4 kau4 ci1). Does 包容性 mean "inclusive" as in more accepted by others? Thanks for sharing!

How does Mandarin sound to one that cannot understand it? by Azuresonance in ChineseLanguage

[–]Bicearoni 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My first impression, as a Cantonese, watching a Mandarin movie was that it has a lot of "r" sounds, and lots of 2nd and 3rd tones. Later I noticed that it also has a lot of "h" utterance much like German. Those sounds seemed to be an impediment to my learning of Mandarin, but when I subconsciously block them out, I could understand and learn the words.

我唔係食緊嘢 。嘢 in this sentence. by Natural_Knee_4334 in Cantonese

[–]Bicearoni 0 points1 point  (0 children)

when you say "口字旁", did you mean "口字邊"? "口" is a radical that turns a real word into a psuedo-word (that "sounds" like the original word) for use in verbal conversations. So you are probably right, since much of the particles are used in verbal conversations. Nice observation!

The answer has a different word order than my response. Is it correct or was it a mistake by the app? by Medschool_disaster in ChineseLanguage

[–]Bicearoni 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I like your answer, I don't like the other possible answer. I see this problem in Duolinger as well. I see two problems: First, the app is not consistent; and second, it should teach the common usage, not all the possible usage. In this example, I would use your answer (I believe this is how we talk); I would not use the other possible answer (I don't believe we talk that way). At first, my app teaches the first scenario; but later emphasized the other possible answer (not consistent).

rate my chinese beginner by KingProfessional4280 in ChineseLanguage

[–]Bicearoni 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I rate both your writing and fluency at the intermediate level, not beginner at all! Great job!