Hong Kong English/Cantonese (V)
Two Things about Christmas (or Chirsmax)
It’s the time of the year again. People around the world celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ by doing basically nothing related to his birth such as buying gifts and putting them under Christmas trees, crazy countdowns, and parties.
Therefore, here I try to explain some Christmas related Hong Kong phrases or jokes as a ritual (of doing nothing related to Christ’s birth).
1. Judo’s surname
Ever thought of this question? Sorry, if you don’t speak Cantonese, probably you have never thought of this thing.
Judo (the sport) has a “surname.” It is “Dan.” (誕, Jyutping: daan3, meaning: birth)
But why? Thanks to this song.
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town is so famous that there should have been a lot of versions in different languages. Well, this Cantonese joke is only related to the first two lines of the lyrics.
The English version of these two lines is:
You better watch out. You better not cry.
There are quite a few versions in Cantonese. For these two lines, the most famous one should be:
又到聖誕，又到聖誕。(Jyutping: jau6 dou3 sing3 daan3)
(It’s Christmas again. It’s Christmas again.)
Why does these lines related to the sport? It is, of course, related to their pronunciation. In addition, our thought of linking melodies in music and Cantonese tones is also a big reason.
Having the same melody and the same sound of the lyrics, we unfortunately have another interpretation. This is kind of funny because it is rare.
柔道姓誕，柔道姓誕。(Jyutping: jau4 dou6 sing3 daan3)
(Judo surnames Dan. Judo surnames Dan.)
Cantonese tones 3,4 and 6 sound quite similar sometimes. This makes the misinterpretation and so the joke.
2. Saying “Merry Christmas” is too main-stream
“Merry Christmas” is a common greeting during Christmas, just as “Kung Hay Fat Choi” during Lunar New Year. Nevertheless, we can now have other choices thanks to our “creative” politicians.
I don’t know if this is luck or bad luck, but it all started in the district I live in.
In 2014, one of the district councillor, Wai-leung Larm, of DAB posted a banner in his area (the picture on the left). It says, “Marry Christmas & Happy New Year.”
Being in DAB or other pro-Peking parties is often mocked in Hong Kong. They are usually laughed at being well-off but not well-educated. (Of course, most of them have at least an undergraduate degree but they didn’t manage to show it properly in public.)
Therefore, a member of a pro-Peking party made a mistake in his banner was something which worthed a laugh, but it was not big news.
The big news was: TWO members of the SAME pro-Peking party made TWO DIFFERENT mistakes in their banners IN THE SAME YEAR.
It is not related to marriage this time, but Jesus Christ, what is Chrismax?
This mistake was made by another district councillor and DAB member, Yun-keung Wong, soon after Larm’s mistake.
It was such a shame that Wong is a secondary school teacher. It was more horrific to me because he was the discipline master of MY secondary school. I graduated ten years ago so I don’t know the situations in the school now.
I suspect this party wanted to make a third mistake.
The next year, it was about time for District Council election. Election campaigns were everywhere but this double councillor (Legislative Council and Eastern District Council) made a mistake in his own name.
Chris Chung was (in)famous for mistakenly reverse the word order of Chinese proverbs. Some of his incorrect word order was made famous that very few people can recall the correct word order easily now.
Some of these incorrect proverbs are:
- 子烏虛有 ❌ (Jyutping: zi2 wu1 heoi1 jau5)
- 子虛烏有 ⭕ ️(Jyutping: zi2 heoi1 wu1 jau5), meaning “fake, unreal”
- 明張目膽 ❌ (Jyutping: ming4 zoeng1 muk6 daam2)
- 明目張膽 ⭕ (Jyutping: ming4 muk6 zoeng1 daam2), meaning “explicit”
Perhaps it was Chung’s strategy to make himself well-known. He reversed the alphabetical order of his English name that time, and obviously he was laughed at.
Therefore, when these three typos combine, the result is too great to believe.
All in all, Judo Dan marries Chirsmax.
(It’s Christmas again. Merry Christmas.)
