Dear readers,
In the book "A Dictionary of Cantonese Colloquialisms in English", the phrase 食過夜粥 (sik6 gwo3 je6 zuk1) which literally translates to "tasted night congee before" has the colloquial meaning "knows Chinese martial arts (kung fu)".
Why is this so? What does congee (rice gruel or porridge) have to do with martial arts? Is there a good story behind this phrase?
Kobo-Daishi, PLLA.
Congee-kung fu
-
Pete Skinner
Re: Congee-kung fu
Hiya....
where did you find the dictionary?? can you give me the publishers details etc.. i am interested to find out where I can find it..
Pete S
: Dear readers,
: In the book "A Dictionary of Cantonese Colloquialisms in English", the phrase 食過夜粥 (sik6 gwo3 je6 zuk1) which literally translates to "tasted night congee before" has the colloquial meaning "knows Chinese martial arts (kung fu)".
: Why is this so? What does congee (rice gruel or porridge) have to do with martial arts? Is there a good story behind this phrase?
: Kobo-Daishi, PLLA.
where did you find the dictionary?? can you give me the publishers details etc.. i am interested to find out where I can find it..
Pete S
: Dear readers,
: In the book "A Dictionary of Cantonese Colloquialisms in English", the phrase 食過夜粥 (sik6 gwo3 je6 zuk1) which literally translates to "tasted night congee before" has the colloquial meaning "knows Chinese martial arts (kung fu)".
: Why is this so? What does congee (rice gruel or porridge) have to do with martial arts? Is there a good story behind this phrase?
: Kobo-Daishi, PLLA.
-
BB
Re: Congee-kung fu
Dear Kobo,
I learnt this phrase, and we used to describe people who know Kung Fu. I think the congee was given by the Kung Fu Master. If I find out the reason , I will reply to this post again.
Best regards
: Dear readers,
: In the book "A Dictionary of Cantonese Colloquialisms in English", the phrase 食過夜粥 (sik6 gwo3 je6 zuk1) which literally translates to "tasted night congee before" has the colloquial meaning "knows Chinese martial arts (kung fu)".
: Why is this so? What does congee (rice gruel or porridge) have to do with martial arts? Is there a good story behind this phrase?
: Kobo-Daishi, PLLA.
I learnt this phrase, and we used to describe people who know Kung Fu. I think the congee was given by the Kung Fu Master. If I find out the reason , I will reply to this post again.
Best regards
: Dear readers,
: In the book "A Dictionary of Cantonese Colloquialisms in English", the phrase 食過夜粥 (sik6 gwo3 je6 zuk1) which literally translates to "tasted night congee before" has the colloquial meaning "knows Chinese martial arts (kung fu)".
: Why is this so? What does congee (rice gruel or porridge) have to do with martial arts? Is there a good story behind this phrase?
: Kobo-Daishi, PLLA.
-
deru
Re: Congee-kung fu
In the past, HK has many kung-fu masters who open class to teach the martial art. They would like to choose the brilliant students who have definite martial art basal to help him guiding the newcoming pupil the basic skill. When the special festivals comes, they would take part the celebration by showing lion dance or else. You could imagine how busy to prepare the celebration, and those "brilliant" students would play an important role and busy all the day till to night. Generally, the wife of the kung-fu master would prepare some congee and noodle to serve them. So if we say someone who tasted night congee before, it means he has definite martial art basal.
-
Kobo-Daishi
Re: Congee-kung fu
Dear Pete,
The book, “A Dictionary of Cantonese Colloquialisms In English” by Kwan Kit Choi is published by 商務印書館 (Mand: shang1 wu4 yin4 shu1 guan3, Cant: soeng1 mou6 jam1 syu1 gun2). It’s the same company that publishes the Han-Viet dictionary that Mak Zai mentions in his posting at the thread about Chinese & Vietnamese.
It lists the characters, its’ transliteration, a literal translation and it’s meaning.
Here are some sample entries (I added the transliteration in Jyut Pin immediately following the characters.):
唔三唔四 (Cant: m4 saam1 m4 sei3)
m4 sam1 m4 sei3 (translit.)
Not three not four (lit.)
Neither fish, flesh nor fowl.
Neither one thing nor the other.
Be nondescript.
唔自在 (Cant: m4 zi6 zoi6)
m4 dzi6 dzoi3 (translit.)
Be uneasy. (lit.)
Be unwell.
Feel awkward and ill at ease.
屎橋 (Cant: si2 kiu4)
si2 kiu2 (translit.)
Useless plot. (lit.) (I think this should be “excrement bridge” since that’s what the characters are. The author probably meant this to be one of the meanings below.)
A useless plan.
An impractical device.
I wouldn’t recommended it for the beginner, though.
I think I got it from China Books.
Kobo-Daishi, PLLA.
The book, “A Dictionary of Cantonese Colloquialisms In English” by Kwan Kit Choi is published by 商務印書館 (Mand: shang1 wu4 yin4 shu1 guan3, Cant: soeng1 mou6 jam1 syu1 gun2). It’s the same company that publishes the Han-Viet dictionary that Mak Zai mentions in his posting at the thread about Chinese & Vietnamese.
It lists the characters, its’ transliteration, a literal translation and it’s meaning.
Here are some sample entries (I added the transliteration in Jyut Pin immediately following the characters.):
唔三唔四 (Cant: m4 saam1 m4 sei3)
m4 sam1 m4 sei3 (translit.)
Not three not four (lit.)
Neither fish, flesh nor fowl.
Neither one thing nor the other.
Be nondescript.
唔自在 (Cant: m4 zi6 zoi6)
m4 dzi6 dzoi3 (translit.)
Be uneasy. (lit.)
Be unwell.
Feel awkward and ill at ease.
屎橋 (Cant: si2 kiu4)
si2 kiu2 (translit.)
Useless plot. (lit.) (I think this should be “excrement bridge” since that’s what the characters are. The author probably meant this to be one of the meanings below.)
A useless plan.
An impractical device.
I wouldn’t recommended it for the beginner, though.
I think I got it from China Books.
Kobo-Daishi, PLLA.