The Ubiquitous Lah

I use Hong Kong movies to expand my Cantonese vocabulary.

It works. Thanks to a natural gift of mimicry, I can replicate what I hear with a fair degree of accuracy. The downside is I have to make a conscious effort to change the way I say certain phrases.

It depends on my frame of reference. For example, take an expression I picked up from the film Infernal Affairs: Jing ging dee lah! (Be Serious!)

If I say it the way I heard it, I come off sounding like a local woman if I draw out that last word. The ubiquitous lah is another Cantonese quirk that has found its way into my vocabulary. It's an emphatic (strong assertion) particle that can be tacked on to the end of any sentence. It's used to indicate attitude: the rough equivalent to either "you see" or "you know" in English. It's not enough for some folks to agree and say "Okay!" They add the particle: "Okay lah!"

I've stopped short of doing that. I only use it with Cantonese, unlike many of my fellow citizens, who say it when speaking English. Some of them go so far as to type it in e-mail or online discussion boards.

That's where I draw the line. You'll never hear me say something such as: Let's go to a movie lah!

You have my permission to punch me if you do.

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