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Add intrigue to your Cantonese with phrases related to ‘disappearing’, ‘vanishing’ and ‘hiding’
South China Morning Post
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11/24/2023
Exploring a selection of Cantonese phrases related to the concepts of “disappearing”, “hiding”, and “running away” can be fun and useful, as Post editor Luisa Tam explains.
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00:00
Hi everybody, I'm back! It's been quite some time since I've been here. I apologize for
00:04
my absence, but I have returned with some linguistic gifts for budding Chinese speakers.
00:09
Today we'll be looking at some Cantonese phrases related to disappearing, guilty as charged,
00:19
hiding and running away. Cantonese has a rich variety of phrases that vividly describe the
00:24
concept of hiding. These words often employ colorful metaphors as opposed to literal
00:29
expressions to convey their meaning. First, a very popular Hong Kong slang term is 潜水.
00:35
It literally means "go diving", but it's more of a metaphor and is commonly used when
00:40
someone is intentionally withdrawing from public view or avoiding attention. In a sentence
00:45
you can say "What happened? Why have you gone 潜水 for so long?" 潜水. Another
00:50
fun phrase is 走佬, which means "to flee or abscond". Very often someone would 走佬
00:56
to escape the long arm of the law. For example, you can say "The people responsible for that
01:01
dodgy cryptocurrency investment platform went 走佬 before the police launched their investigation."
01:07
When someone has gone 走佬, they have 消失, vanished. You can say "So and so has 消失
01:12
without a trace." 消失. Next one, 玩失踪, play missing. If a person is 玩失踪,
01:18
it means they are trying to hide themselves. Judy 玩失踪 to avoid running into her
01:23
ex. 玩失踪. A similar phrase is 冇浮頭, meaning "not emerging from the water". It
01:29
can be used alongside the phrase 潜水, go diving. Putting the two phrases together,
01:34
you can say "After fighting with his friends at the recent Christmas party, David, 冇
01:38
浮頭 for weeks, I believe he has gone 潜水 to avoid bumping into them." The next two
01:43
phrases are more serious ways to describe someone that is missing. First, 人間蒸發,
01:49
which means "to disappear from the face of the earth". 人間 means "the earth",
01:54
and 蒸發 means "evaporate". 人間蒸發 is one of my favorites as the literal
01:58
meaning evokes such a clear image. Here's an example, "After the family reunion, Danny
02:04
seems to have 人間蒸發, and no one has heard from him. Maybe someone should call
02:08
the police." Another quite serious sounding phrase is 無影無蹤, "no shadow, no trace".
02:14
It's often used to describe the complete disappearance of something or someone without
02:19
leaving any trace behind. Similar to the previous example, you can say "Danny has gone 無影無蹤
02:25
after the family reunion. Everyone is so worried." If you want to be more casual, you can say
02:29
唔見咗, which means "missing". The phrase means someone or something has disappeared
02:35
and is nowhere to be seen. In a sentence, you can say "My wallet was here a minute
02:40
ago, and now 唔見咗!" Now a bonus phrase, 不見不散, translated
02:45
to "Don't see, don't leave". This phrase is often used in a playful manner, suggesting
02:50
that if someone wants to disappear, they shouldn't leave without saying goodbye, in a way you're
02:55
indirectly warning them not to disappear on you and be present. In a sentence, you can
03:00
say "We haven't celebrated Christmas together for years, so this year you must come to my
03:04
party. 不見不散, ok?"
03:08
不見不散. Remember that Cantonese is a tonal language, so the pronunciation is crucial.
03:13
It's always helpful to listen to native speakers or consult audio resources to get
03:18
the correct pronunciation and intonation.
03:20
Ok, we have a lot to recap! 潛水 go diving, a metaphorical way of saying going into hiding.
03:27
潛水 潛水 潛水 走路 is to flee. 走路 走路 走路 消失 to vanish.
03:36
消失 消失 消失. Next one is 玩失踪, play missing. 玩失踪 玩失踪 玩失踪.
03:46
冇蒲頭 not emerging from the water. 冇蒲頭 冇蒲頭 冇蒲頭.
03:53
人間蒸發 to disappear from the face of the earth. 人間蒸發 人間蒸發 人間蒸發.
04:01
無影無蹤 no shadow no trace. 無影無蹤 無影無蹤 無影無蹤.
04:09
A more casual phrase for missing is 唔見咗 唔見咗 唔見咗 唔見咗.
04:16
A bonus phrase 不見不散 don't see don't leave. 不見不散 不見不散 不見不散.
04:24
I hope you enjoyed today's session and find these phrases useful. Don't forget to practice
04:28
Cantonese loudly and proudly. See you all soon. 唔見唔見唔散.
04:32
Thank you for watching. 再見
04:34
Thank you for watching. 再見
04:36
Thank you for watching. 再見
04:38
Thank you for watching. 再見
04:40
Thank you for watching. 再見
04:42
Thank you for watching. 再見
04:44
Thank you for watching. 再見
04:46
Thank you for watching. 再見
04:48
Thank you for watching. 再見
04:50
Thank you for watching. 再見
04:52
[MUSIC PLAYING]
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