September 26, 2010
gau
At the hawkers' centre I heard a woman telling an older woman in Cantonese "stir your drink first". In Cantonese stir is gau. Then I thought of three other words which are pronounced the same way in Cantonese.
How would you say this in Cantonese: A boy named Ah Gau plays with nine puppies.
It is Gau Chye gau gau jet gau chye.
Gau can be play, nine or dog. Chye can be son or boy, or baby animal.
Furthermore, gau with slightly different intonations can mean:
to teach, to hand over something to another person, glue, a piece of thing, old (refer to things)
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4 comments:
Fr. Lei yau moe gau chor ah?
You shd be happy when your subordinates say, Gau tim sai.
The phrases mean:
Did you get it wrong?
Everything is ok or done.
These are common Cantonese phrases but it is easy not to say what the word gau means in English.
Frannxis, you didn't mention that Gau is also a Cantonese swear/vulgar word if you pronounce it with the right (or wrong?) intonation. I think it means the male sex organ. Cantonese is indeed a colourful and versatile dialect... of which I am proud to be a member.
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