It’s a Numbers Game

It’s a stereotype that Asians are the best at mathematics (there is even a song by Faith No More called Chinese Arithmetic), but you can’t help but agree when you analyze Cantonese slang. The Chinese speak in so much code that it’s like studying algebra. “Enter number” is a phrase which can either mean to deposit or to hold someone responsible for something. “Number mouth” is someone who is quick with figures or is regarded as a hard bargainer. Even something simple such as a surname like Ng which sounds like the Chinese word for five. For example, Richard Ng was in a film franchise that was known in Chinese as Five Lucky Stars. Here is a list of Cantonese slang terms involving numbers…

“One wok of congee” is a chaotic situation that is unmanageable. “One wok cooked” means nothing left or utterly destroyed. “One penny hits one boat” means overgeneralizing in assigning blame. “First mouthful soup” refers to the first person to get into a profitable business i.e. first come, first served. However, it can also mean to have sex with a virgin. The Chinese word for soup is Tāng, which sounds similar to the Chinese word for China. In The Way of the Dragon, Bruce Lee played a character called Táng Lung (i.e. China Dragon: 唐湯). It’s not a coincidence that Bruce decided that Táng Lung would order soup at an Italian airport restaurant despite the fact that Táng Lung doesn’t speak anything other than Chinese. Later on, it’s revealed that he is dyslexic, so he can’t even read Chinese. Back to the virgin aspect of the “first mouthful soup” pun, it’s implied in the film that Táng Lung is a virgin.

“One neck blood” means losing a great deal of money. “One rotating mouth” means talking continuously. “Mr. One” refers to the top leader, especially in the world of law whether it be the director of correctional services or the chief of police. Ironically, one of the characters that Jet Li played in The One was a prisoner. “One hand, one foot” means being on one’s own. “One falls and one rolls” means being in a great hurry. “One chicken died, one chicken crow” means that when one person leaves a business or an occupation, another will take it up. “Pulling one, and dragging two others” can mean either carrying lots of different things or having lots of family responsibility. “One king, more queens” means one man and two (or more) women having sex. This can apply to a man accompanied by prostitutes. “One person’s strategy is short, two people’s strategy is long” means two heads are better than one. “One cut, two pieces” means making a clean break like ending a romantic relationship.

“One country, two systems” describes a massage parlour which offers both sexual services and ordinary massage. “One thing rules over another” (a.k.a. glutinous rice kills bed bugs) means everything or everyone has something that dominates or constrains it. “First raw, second cooked” means people get used to things quickly, especially when training. “One blow disperses two” means breaking up a joint enterprise when neither party comes out a winner (sometimes used as a threat during a negotiation). “One eye following seven things” means being on the alert. “Each two plum trees are separated by one bamboo tree” means in alternating series e.g. in ABAB sequence. The Chinese character for Lee is used for plum, so imagine what people would have thought when they saw Bruce Lee use a bamboo cane in The Game of Death. In fact, Bruce intended to make a movie called The Green Bamboo Warrior.

“Two bunches of bananas” means visiting someone without bringing a gift, especially arriving empty-handed at someone’s house (the bananas represent the index and middle fingers of the hand). A “second generation ancestor” is a big-spending son who spends the family money. A “second factory” is a second wife or mistress. “The fate of being the second wife” means always having to settle for second best. “Two against six” means two plus six is ​​eight, which is less than one catty. It turns out that this is an allegory: not enough to weigh two per catty i.e. this describes a person’s limited knowledge and qualifications. Speaking of the Chinese metric system, “half catty, eight taels” (six of one, half of a dozen of the other) can mean being on equal terms or just as good or bad. Sammo Hung starred in a 1989 drama titled Eight Taels of Gold.

“Three long, two short” means an unexpected disaster, especially sudden death or serious bodily harm. “Three steaks, two dials” refers to something that’s done very quickly. “Third cocoon” is the third time that someone goes to prison. “Three strokes of the axe” means having only a limited number of skills to deal with a problem i.e. to have only a few tricks up one’s sleeve. “Hot for three minutes” describes a fickle or impatient person. “Three drops of colour expecting big red” means give someone an inch and they will take a mile. “Speaking three-character classics” means using swear words. “Not issued for three years, released for three years” refers to a business with a very high profit margin and few transactions. “Cheung three and Lee four” means nobody in particular i.e. any Tom, D!ck and Harry. Coincidentally, there is a 1993 Hong Kong movie called Tom, D!ck and Hairy. “Nonsense three, nonsense four” means idle chatter, especially if a person gossips about others without any relevant basis.

“Three six” means dog food i.e. three plus six equals nine whereas the Cantonese word for nine is the same as the one for dog i.e. gau. “Three declines, six ascends” means mixed fortunes i.e. the ups and downs of life. In general, the three six combination has been used as the title for different kinds of films e.g. 36 Secrets of Courtship (1982), 36 Super Kids (1983), and Anchor 36 Types (2016). “Three fifteen” refers to afternoon tea. “Four, six, seven, zero, nine, three, nine, four” is said of someone who has illicit sex, or visits prostitutes. The Cantonese pronunciation of these numerals rhymes with a rude phrase. “Four nine boy” is a young recruit in a Triad society. “Old four nine” is a long-serving ordinary member who has not been promoted. There are two Chinese horror films called 49 Days. Four times nine equals thirty-six. All members who join the Hongmen Triad must recite the Hongmen Thirty-Six Oaths to get their names. “Five flag poles” refers to the Star Ferry terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui. “Five five ball” means a fifty-fifty chance of success.

“Fifth limb” refers to the penis. “Five o’ clock flower, six o’ clock change” means changing of the guards, especially tastes and trends. “Six ears and different strategies” means three people will never find a consensus. “Double seven” refers to the 14K Triad gang. Gāt is a Triad term for the number seven. It rhymes with the regular word for seven i.e. cat (or chat). The most famous member of the 14K is a martial arts actor whose birthday is on the seventh month i.e. Michael Chan Wai-Man. He even did seven films that came out in 1977. Furthermore, he has worked with all members of the Seven Little Fortunes i.e. men who attended a Peking Opera school in Hong Kong. The septet were Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao, Yuen Wah, Yuen Tak, Yuen Miu and Yuen Kwai. Most notably, Freedom Strikes a Blow (1973) featured Jackie, Kwai, Biao and Miu.

If Michael Chan retired and moved overseas, it would be good luck if he moved to Gipuzkoa. Not only is this one of the seven Basque provinces in North Spain, the pronunciation is gat pou si kwaa. “Seven seven, eight eight” means nearly complete or ready. By comparison, “Four, four, six six” is an acceptable agreement. “Seven colours” means messy or out of control (imagine what the Chinese must think when they see the rainbow adorned during gay pride). Another version of this phrase is the Seven Kingdoms are in chaos. “Seven boy” describes the 7–11 convenience store. It’s also the name of a character in CJ7 (2008). “Seven mouths, eight tongues” means everyone talking at once. The Chinese title of a 1978 Kung Fu movie refers to this i.e. Seven Men of Kung Fu is known in Chinese as Seven Heroes, Eight Righteous.

“Figure of eight wave” describes a woman’s breasts pointing to the sides (it’s like looking at a person’s eyes where the pupils are so distant that they’re cock-eyed). “Eighth month, fifteenth” is a euphemism for the buttocks i.e. the 15th of August in the lunar calendar is the Mid-Autumn festival (a.k.a. the Moon Festival), and the moon is a euphemism for the buttocks. “Nine does not follow eight” refers to something that’s inconsequential, especially a non sequiter. “Nine” is a slang term which means Bay i.e. this is Triad jargon which refers to an area of Hong Kong called Kowloon i.e. nine (Kow) dragons (loon). Bay is shorthand. “If you grant me one foot, I will grant you ten” means whatever favours you do for someone will be more than reciprocated.

“Born at the twelfth hour” means to be born at a bad time, although this expression is also used to blame someone for their (often unintentionally) destructive behaviour. It’s a pun involving words which are homophones of each other. Although both words have different characters, they have the same pronunciation. One word is a division in the traditional Chinese clock whereas the other word means harm. “Ten horizontal strokes but not yet one down stroke” means to have barely started a large project. “Poor at midnight, rich at dawn” means being uncertain about life, especially feeling insecure about fate. “13 o’clock” means being flirtatious, naive or giggly (e.g. this is usually said of adolescent girls). This reminds me of Tom Bleecker’s biography about Bruce Lee. Tom was Linda’s second husband, so there’s some meaningful subtext about Bruce’s final day of living. Linda claimed that she left the Lee home at one o’clock and returned three hours later at four. The Chinese word for four is similar to the one for death.

“Eighteen and twenty two” refers to being in the bloom of youth (commonly used of women). “Don’t care that three sevens are twenty one” is an expression that is used to reject an objection to a course of action. There is a 1979 movie called 37 Plots of Kung Fu. “Thirty strokes on the behind before one can see the official” means paying a price before one can have the possibility of getting what one wants. A “ninety nine device” is a device that’s used for eavesdropping on police radio communications. In Angela Mao’s chase scene in Enter the Dragon (1973), 99 can be seen on a barrel. “Understanding one idea makes a hundred ideas comprehensible” means that once one has mastered the basic idea, the rest is easy. A similar expression to this is “By being careful, one can steer a boat for ten thousand years.”