colloquial names of drugs in Cantonese

[Ramesh K.]

just curious to know some. wondering if it is very different from mandarin.

also is the "fing1" of "fing1 tau4 yuen2" loanword from english word "fling?" or did it come from a separate source?

[Sum Won]

You've got a valid point. If I'd ask my parents to say "fling", it'd probably come out something similar to "fing", but we don't use "fing" to mean "throw" [i.e. "I flung my whip around, before snapping it."]. In Mandarin, they call them "Yao tou Yuan" (same thing, basically --"yao" meaning the same thing as "fing"). Wouldn't know how you'd write "fing", but I could probably tell you other names for drugs (though this would have to be through e-mail)...

[James Campbell]

Mandarin should be "yao tou wan丸"

[Sum Won]

Thankyou for the correction! Sorry, trying to learn Japanese and Korean simultaneously, plays around with your head (especially when you try to convert Cantonese<-->Mandarin).