Bilingual Cyber Culture: Hong Kong Swatows (by Natalie Fok)

Hello, everyone! I am going to introduce an interesting topic related to Hong Kong language in this blog entry, which is called “Swatow” or “fashionable words or phrases”. They are the buzzword of today’s youth. You can actually often see these words in the Internet. Here I am going to introduce some of these words.

大家好! 我將會在這篇博客介紹一些有關香港語言的有趣話題----- “潮語”, 「潮流用語」的簡稱, 是時下年輕人的流行用語。你亦能經常在互聯網中看見這些 “潮語”。以下我會向大家介紹一些常用的 “潮語”。

1. 囧: Many people think that this “Swatow” is similar to people’s facial expression. It looks like a man frowned at the mouth open, kept sighing like, expressed “helplessness”, “depressed” and “distressed”. Hence, it also means that “you cannot stand anymore” or “you are defeated”.

1. 囧: 很多人都認為這個 “潮語” 的 “外形” 跟人們的面部表情很相似。它就像一個眉頭皺起的人在嘴巴張開，不停嘆氣似的，表示「無可奈何」、「鬱悶」、「苦惱」。因此這個未可再引申為「受不了」、「被打敗」等意思。

2. Orz: The combination of these three alphabets, “O”, “R” and “Z” become a “Swatow”. It looks like a man fell to his knees on the ground, with his head down, and it seems that the man is saying, “God, why do you do this to me?” Among these three words, “O” is the head, “R” is the upper body and hands and “Z” is the lower body and feet. This word has a meaning of “regret”, “anger” and “powerlessness”.

2. Orz: 這個 "潮語” 分別由三個英文字母, “O”, “R” 及 ”Z” 組成。它看起來像是一個人跪倒在地上，低著頭，一副「天啊，你為何這樣對我」的動作, 當中「O」是頭部，「r」是上半身和手部，「z」是下半身和腳部。 “Orz” 通常帶有「悔恨」、「悲憤」、「無力回天」等含意。

3. 屈機: This “Swatow” is an electronic game term originated from Hong Kong. In a narrow means, it refers to the use of electronic game player loopholes or improper means to an end. In a generalized meaning, it describes some people use improper or unfair methods to achieve their goals and it also depicts other people use their powerful strength to defeat their opponents.

3.屈機: 這是一個源自香港的電子遊戲術語，狹義是指玩者利用電子遊戲中的漏洞或不當手段達到目的，廣義是指現實生活中有人利用不正當或不公平的方法達到目的，甚至可以純粹指那些展現強大實力而令對手毫無招架之力的人或行為。