Nose Mucous Insect

A friend of mine e-mailed me regarding my notes on Say Hello to My Little Friend.

Thanks for the Cantonese siuh pahng yauh. I put it in my phrase book because there are a lot of cute, well-behaved kids in HK. But that doesn't mean there are not occasions when "snot-nosed little s***!" wouldn't come in handy. Could you work on the translation?

Truth be told I've never considered such a phrase. Usually I just use the word brat.

But now I was curious, so I did some research. I wasn't certain the term would have a direct translation, but in fact it did.

First, Cantonese has the basic equivalent, beih tai chuhng (鼻涕蟲), literally 'nose mucous insect', which is slang for snot-nosed kid.

As for the more vulgar half, Cantonese also has the generic insult si chuhng (屎蟲), literally 's*** bug', also known as 'dirty bug', but that could apply to anyone, not just a brat.

I suppose one could combine the two into beih tai si chuhng, or 'nose mucous dirty bug' but that term doesn't exist in current Cantonese slang. That's not to say it wouldn't be understood, but for it to be clear one might require the word sai (小), or 'small', as in beih tai sai si chuhng.

Or not; for all I know, it may be redundant, as 'insect' is often used to refer to smaller humans.

Further research is warranted.

On another a related note, I found a hilarious and graphic expression that I am compelled to share. Although I haven't been able to verify it, it sounds plausible.

Evidently sahp yahn tai to (拾人涕唾), literally 'pick people mucous saliva', or 'pick other people's snot', is a disgusting but somewhat accurate figurative phrase that means 'to plagiarise'.

So if you're thinking about ripping off any part of this note without due credit, I'll thank you to keep your fingers out of my nose.

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