Like I said, Penang Hokkien is a very unique dialect. It has evolved in such a way, that one who is not familiar with it will find many confusing slang that do not seem to make any sense at all. Like this phrase – BAK MOY
Literally, it means ‘pork porridge’. But every Hokkien bastards in Penang knows, that the phrase is commonly known as something else. It means ‘dead’ colloquially. Usage is easy, it functions like a slang substitute for the word ‘dead’.
Eg:
“Michael Jackson bak moy liao.”
[translation: "Michael Jackson is dead"]
“Ah Seng eh mah bak moy.”
[translation: "Ah Seng's grandmother died"]
“Lim peh ai bak moy liao… bo lui heng siau”
[translation: "I'm gonna die soon... too much debt"]
Or it can be used in anything that has to do with death, depending on your creativity
“Eh, lu oo ki chiak Ah Seng eh mah eh bak moy bo?”
[literal translation: "Are you going to eat Ah Seng's grandmother's pork porridge?"]
[true translation: "Are you going to attend Ah Seng's grandmother's wake?"]
So there you have it. If someone were to mention that phrase before your name in Hokkien, please beware that he could be implying a sinister intention instead of wanting to treat you a bowl of pork porridge.
wa ka lu kong..i am enlightened.. By the way, can u explain ‘keong ka neaw’ (like saying now while pinching ur nose)
One of my customer loves saying it
Feizal – That phrase is derived from ‘ki ho lang kan liao‘. If you speak it fast, it becomes ‘keong kan liao‘.
Literally, it translates to ‘getting fucked by someone’. But it is used as an interjection to express a looming big trouble or deep shit, almost similar to ‘fuck me!’ in English.
I’m a Penangite but have never heard of the bak moy phrase. Hmm…
Since it is about Penang dialect, let me chip in another. “Kann Kay”, literal example of “Kann Kay” person is Tiger Wood affair with mostly “Kay”. So never, compare Tiger with Edison Chen, the idea of comparing them is an insult to Edison LOL :P
Chiak Bak Moy means attending a funeral because this is one of the food items served during a wake (typically).
U-jean – Now you have.
EinsamSoldat – ‘Kann Kay‘ or ‘Kan Keh‘ literally translates to ‘fuck a chicken’ or ‘fuck a whore’. But it actually means being calculative, self centered and afraid of taking any risks.
Arkane – Yeah, Mr. Parrot.
hmm where can i learn hokkien? preferably just vulgar words to scold ppl
Isn’t porridge or broth in Hokkien called ‘muai’?
jen – Effective way to learn Hokkien, just come to live in Penang or Singapore.
lilian – Porridge is called ‘moy’, not ‘muai’. Also, broth is not the same as porridge. Broth is soup stock made from animal bones or vegetables. However, porridge can be flavored by cooking it like broth, but it will be called porridge. (eg. chicken porridge, pork porridge, etc)
i’m hokkien 100% penangite but this is the first time i’ve heard “bak moey” used to describe wakes.
does this mean I’m not a ‘hokkien bastard’? how to regain membership?
infinitium – It simply means you’re not proficient in slang language. No big deal. You just need to know more Ah Bengs and Ah Lians… diversify out a bit.
how abt ‘bey’ or ‘beh’ ? isnt that hokkien for porridge too?
j3ff – If I’m not mistaken, it is called ‘ber’. That’s in either Teochew or Mongolian. Definitely not Hokkien.
Actually, “ber” is the actual Hokkien word for porridge. “Moey” is actually Teochew. Penang hokkien are all mixed up, like stone becomes “batu” (that’s Malay) but the actual hokkien word for it is “jiu tau”. Just my 2 cents worth :)