Using Cantonese ‘symptom’ words to describe behaviour and emotions

2020-06-23 68

Descriptions of medical symptoms in Cantonese are often used in daily conversations to produce some fun expressions about behaviour and emotions. Luisa Tam walks us through some insane terms for a range of feelings, from sam jyun meaning “soft heart” to indicate forgiveness, to ngaang geng which literally means “stiff neck” but really describes stubbornness.