Notes » April 2007

Eat Smoke

The more I learn Cantonese, the more I love the dialect.

Because Cantonese is more verbal than written (some words don't even have a corresponding traditional Chinese character) it's replete with idioms and slang, much like English.

Take the expression for smoking, for instance.

In English, smoke can be a noun or a verb. Through centuries of use, everyone understands that "to smoke" means to use tobacco products, and sometimes marijuana, but we won't go there.

But in Cantonese yin (煙), the word for smoke, isn't used the same way. On its own it's primary definition is just that: smoke (noun). It can also mean tobacco or cigarette, but the usual way to refer to a cigarette in traditional Chinese is with two words: heung yin (香煙), or fragrant smoke. This clarifies meaning if there's no context.

So far so good.

Because the Chinese language constructs many nouns and verbs with word combinations, to write smoke as a verb, the word chau (抽), to draw out, precedes it, like this: chau yin (抽煙), or to draw out smoke.

But those of you who remember The Secret of Cantonese recall that the difference between written Chinese and street Cantonese can be confusing.

Therefore it's no surprise that the Cantonese idiom for smoking is informal: sihk yin (食煙), or eat smoke. Given the secondary definition of yin (煙), one may also interpret the expression as eat cigarette.

The literal translation sounds odd to our ears, but to native Cantonese speakers, the term makes sense because they comprehend the figurative meaning.

If you look at it from the opposite perspective, imagine how bewildering it is for people learning English as a second language to decipher the term chain-smoke. And what about nic fit and "out for a butt"?

Or, just to be crude, "blow smoke up my ass"?

So if you're waiting for a table at a Chinese restaurant in a town where no anti-smoking legislation exists, you might hear Cantonese speakers say sihk yin when they want to sit in the smoking section.

Because you can be certain there are no cigarettes on the menu.

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