6 places snakes appear in Cantonese slang, used to describe lazy people, queues and more
Why do police ‘release snakes’? How do students ‘bend snakes’? We untangle six Cantonese slang expressions that use the word ‘snake’
Hong Kong Cantonese is a uniquely complex tongue because of its unapologetically colloquial turns of phrase and liberal use of slang, with all its cultural nuances.
As the Year of the Snake slithers hither, we examine six snake-inspired Cantonese slang words.
1. Cowardly 蛇𠺌 (seh gweh)
While snakes are not typically known for being bold creatures, this old-school slang, used to describe people lacking courage, has nothing to do with the animal despite the first character, seh, being that for snake.
The second character, gweh, can be difficult even for proficient Chinese readers, but that is because it was never meant to be a Chinese word.
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This Cantonese slang term is said to have developed as a phonetic translation of the English word “scared”, which may be why seh gweh is more commonly seen in older Hong Kong film and television productions made when the city was under British rule.
2. Snake king 蛇王 (seh wong)
