Salty and Wet

I love Cantonese for its rich volume of colloquial expressions.

While some are similar to English in basic construction, others are so different that unless explained you'd never know the underlying meaning.

Take the expression haahm sap (鹹濕), literally "salty [and] wet". Depending on the subject of discussion, the meaning varies, but only a little; somewhere along the way salty became the code word for indecency.

If used in reference to a person, haahm sap means he's lascivious. If used to describe a book, it means the work is salacious. And if used regarding someone's speech, it means the language is bawdy.

Taken further, haahm sap baak fu (鹹濕伯父), or a "salty and wet elder", is the Cantonese way of saying dirty old man. If he's younger, he might be called haahm chong (鹹虫), or "salty worm", which is another way of labelling someone as lustful.

And gropers on trains and buses are known as haahm jyu sau (鹹豬手), or "salty pig's hand", which refers to indecent touching with the hand(s).

If this seems confusing, imagine how a Cantonese speaker feels when discovering that in English, dirty doesn't always mean someone needs a shower.

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