Braving the Elements
The Chinese people in Hong Kong have a lot of Cantonese slang about the five elements. In Chinese culture, metal is sometimes replaced by gold as being one of the five elements hence the gold ninjas in Five Element Ninjas (a 1982 Shaw Brothers movie). It’s possible that Bruce Lee may have wanted each of the five floors in The Game of Death to represent the five elements. Dan Inosanto’s floor features different kinds of wooden weapons, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s floor represents fire due to the candles, and the sunlight that defeats him. Ji Han-Jae’s floor represented gold because he wore a gold belt. Back to what I said before about metal, there are red light bulbs. In Cantonese slang, an “electric light bulb” describes a tactless person, especially someone who intrudes on a courting couple.
In Warriors of Virtue (1997), gold is not one of the elements despite the film mostly taking place in historical times. In The Magnificent Butcher (a 1979 Golden Harvest movie about Kung Fu), the five elements are gold, wood, water, fire and earth in that order whether it be in the first reel or the final one. I’ve already covered the Cantonese slang about gold in one of last month’s articles, but I will cover the slang about iron since that is regarded as a metal. “Carrying iron” refers to a cop carrying a gun. Similarly, iron face refers to a magistrate or a judge (namely the latter). Disturbingly, an iron nest is a gambling den protected from police harassment because of bribery or connections. “Stone floor and iron broom” describes two equal forces in conflict.
An iron rice bowl is a secure job, especially a government job. An iron lotus flower is a weapon that is a spiked ring. In Cantonese slang, an iron sand pear describes a stingy person. The metaphor is that you can’t bite this kind of pear, so a stingy person won’t “bite” if you want them to listen to you. This naturally leads to the next element-themed slang. While Westerners have come to refer to money in shorthand as bread, the Chinese think of water whether it be gathering water (borrowing), weighing water (paying) or adding water (payment for overtime). Water leg refers to travelling expenses or a fee for shipment. Conversely, paying water bill refers to the act of urination. In The Magnificent Butcher, there is a sight gag where a blind man pees into a big pot that is being used to torturously train Sammo Hung.
The stick at the bottom of the pool means someone who only appears when the pool dries up (i.e. not only if they run out of money but if they want some other kind of favour). In The Magnficient Butcher, the blind man uses his walking stick to find the hole in the pot before urinating. “A water bill spot” is a taxi driver’s jargon that refers to a toilet. “A bride on the water” is a woman from the Mainland China who marries a Hong Kong fisherman but is obliged to stay on the boat because they lack a residence permit in Hong Kong. Fittingly, “plumb line of a ship” describes a person who is always asking others for money. This slang term can also refer to shrinking clothing or reducing one’s costs. Boiling water is indulging in petty gossip. By comparison, “boiled water drips on legs” means going quickly.
Pulling water is taking advantage of someone, especially sexually. It can also refer to the world of gambling where a tip is given to casino staff or if a fee is being charged to mahjong players for providing a venue and food to the players. Swimming in dry water means playing mahjong. One scene in The Magnificent Butcher takes place in a casino. A salty and fresh water place is a massage parlour which offers both sexual services and ordinary massage. In The Magnificent Butcher, the villain is a Kung Fu master’s son who secretly turns a part of his father’s school into a harem den. Generally, salt and fresh water refers to a business which is half illegal. As such, “making colour and water” means pretending or putting on a show. In The Magnificent Butcher, the villain tries to trick a man into thinking that someone is his long-lost brother.
Ironically, salt water means foreign. It can also refer to poor construction i.e. when salt water is illegally used to make the concrete. Blowing water means to prevaricate. “Chìhm séui” can mean either being submerged in water or hiding oneself, especially to escape from the law (especially crossing a border illegally). A water and rice room is the punishment block in prison. In Island of Fire (1990), Jimmy Wang Yu is forced to eat lots of rice. Half a bucket of water means to have only a little knowledge. “Neither soup nor water” means something that is not good enough. “Nutritious water should not flow to the neighbouring field” means that profit or any kind of advantage should not be shared with outsiders. “Pouring cold water” means dampening someone’s enthusiasm.
A favour with the flow of water is one which is convenient to carry out since it fits in with one’s plans. The villain in The Magnificent Butcher tricks his father into thinking that the protagonist sexually assaulted and killed his goddaughter, which the villain needs to do so that he can kidnap the protagonist’s sister-in-law. “Going to the roadside and drinking well water” means to stop working as a prostitute. “Water soaking the eyebrows” means being in a crisis where you are running out of time. Going through water means giving tips or hints e.g. to the police or students about an examination. To dive into sea water means to spend time overseas, especially to study. “One’s life is colder than water” means to live dangerously.
Saving water and effort means poorly producing something. This saying definitely describes the budgeting policy that plagued the majority of the Hong Kong film industry. If something cannot be washed clean with water, it means to be misunderstood so deeply that the situation is beyond repair. To drag into the water means to put the blame on someone for a situation that was not their fault. Water mixed with oil describes two people who cannot stand each other. In The Magnificent Butcher, Sammo defeats an opponent with oil. Earlier on, water is mentioned in a calligraphy fight when talking about the wind and rain. In Cantonese slang, water and wind go hand in hand. “Wind fresh, water cool” describes a place that is pleasant (albeit this can be often meant ironically).
“Wind grow, water soar” means getting rich. “Mix wind, mix rain” means causing a lot of problems. “Stinking wind, bloody rain” describes a conflict ending in violence, especially blood-letting. In The Magnificent Butcher, a character lies to the innocent father of the villain by claiming that Wong Fei-Hung insists that the father should make the most of the autumn wind by changing career to sell snake soup instead. Given the importance of chi (energy from breath control) in Chinese culture, perhaps gold should have been replaced by wind for the movie. Interestingly, gold doesn’t have much of a place in the storyline other than the fact that the goddaughter wears a gold jacket in her final scene. Wind has more to do with the narrative than gold.
“To eat wind” is to have nothing to eat. The old beggar in The Magnificent Butcher is hungry, and uses someone’s air to light a fire in order to cook a chicken. When his appetite is satiated, he is able to become Sammo’s instructor. “To blow wind” is to pass on a rumour. “Treating as wind past the ears” is treating someone’s words as unimportant. “Releasing wind” is to pass information on to someone. The Chinese have been saying “to get wind of something” long before Westerners did. “In full-sail when the wind is up” means exploiting a favourable opportunity to the full; to go too far when one has the power. Even in the finale, the villain’s father describes one of his techniques as fire brings the wind - this naturally leads us to the fire-themed slang.
Going through fire and water means enduring any hardship. Stealing under the cover of fire means taking advantage of a chaotic situation for one’s own benefit. A fire ghost can be either a fireman or someone who rushes to get things done but who is not necessarily efficient. Putting out a fire means sexual release. Starting a fire or colliding with fire means losing one’s temper. Ditto for fire obstructing eyes. “Lamp, oil, fire, wax” refers to overheads. Besides the presence of lamps and lanterns, The Magnificent Butcher contains a scene where Sammo literally has fire lit under his posterior as he accidentally lands on coals while trying to evade the villain’s father. In comparison to gold, there are more references to iron e.g. a line of dialogue in the calligraphy fight.
You would think that the calligraphy fight would have lots of references to wood, but there are none. Nonetheless, there was enough slang to have been incorporated into The Magnificent Butcher in general. For example, there is a scene that takes place in a mauosoleum where the lid of a coffin is used as a weapon. “On a big mountain, you can cut enough firewood” means one can achieve a lot by proceeding in small steps, but it also means making a lot of money by accumulating lots of small profits. Wet firewood describes coins. Hitting a wooden pile can mean have sex. Stealing firewood means to get an erection. Useless firewood is an incompetent person. An old man is called old wood. Collecting firewood in the rain means doing a task carelessly. A big piece of wood is a large penis.
A square lump of wood describes a person with no sense of humour whereas “wooden mouth, wooden face” describes a slow-witted person. Sammo’s character, Lam Sai-Wing, is something of a dimwit. He is supposed to be using fire to cook pork legs but he thinks that he is being prepared to train for the iron sand palm technique. “After falling down, grab a handful of sand” means giving a poor excuse for embarrassment (i.e. pretending that one intended to pick up the sand). “Sand fly away, milk leave” means no sugar nor milk in tea or coffee. Scraping sand means struggling to make a living. “Sand and dust” refers to a braggart. Old soil means old-fashioned or out of date.
“Underground soil” is something or someone not worthy or respect. As for earth-themed slang in general, “obstructing the turning of the Earth” means being in the way. “Moving the earth near the village god” means provoking someone powerful. Earth cannon can mean either local people or products such as cheap rice wine. “Landscape” refers to good prospects. A mountain woman is a heavy-set woman. Buying a buffalo from over the mountain means buying something without seeing it first. “To speak as one opens the door and sees the mountain” means to get straight to the point. “On a big mountain, you can cut enough firewood” means one can achieve a lot by proceeding in small steps such as making a lot of money by accumulating lots of small profits.
“The mountain is high and the Emperor is far away” means being able to run one’s own affairs without interference from authority. Similarly, a mountain corner is a remote place. “Mountains and rivers meet” is a saying which implies that two people will meet again, or to say how small that the world is (it’s often used as a threat). “Going down the mountain” means finishing an apprenticeship. “Stare at the sky, look at the ground” means having nothing to do. “The price demanded is sky high while the offer is down on the ground” speaks for itself. “Falling to the ground, it will blossom, bringing wealth and glory” is a phrase used by someone to console someone else who has dropped something and broken it. Some things were meant to happen.
