#9 Conversation: Talking about fandom in Cantonese (粵語)
Vocabulary
1. 偶像 ngau5 zoeng6 (N) idol2. 組合 zou2 hap6 (N) group
3. 支持 zi1 ci4 (N/V) support / to support
4. 現象 jin6 zoeng6 (N) phenomenon
5. 追隨者 zeoi1 ceoi4 ze2 (N) follower
6. 早期 zou2 kei4 (N) early days/period
7. 年代 nin4 doi6 (N) era / age
8. 天皇巨星 tin1 wong4 geoi6 sing1 (N) megastar
9. 光碟 gwong1 dip2 (N) optical disc
10. 反覆 faan2 fuk1 (ADV) back and forth / repeatedly
11. 變化 bin3 faa3 (N) change
12. 音譯 jam1 jik6 (N) transliteration
13. 受歡迎 sau6 fun1 ying4 (ADJ) popular / well received
14. 外號 ngoi6 hou6 (N) nickname
15. 隨住 ceoi4 zyu6 (PREP) along with
16. 演變 jin2 bin3 (V) to evolve
17. 遊戲 jau4 hei3 (N) game
18. 花名 faa1 meng2 (N) nickname
19. 卒之 zeot1 zi1 (ADV) eventually
20. 煮餸 zyu2 sung3 (VO) to cook (food)
21. 搞笑 gaau2 siu3 (ADJ) funny / hilarious
22. 形狀 jing4 zong6 (N) shape
23. 健身 gin6 san1 (VO) to work out (body)
24. 蛋白 daan2 baak6 (N) egg white / protein
25. 好處 hou2 cyu3 (N) advantage
26. 奶昔 naai5 sik1 (N) milkshake
27. 幽默 jau1 mak6 (N/ADJ) humor / humorous
ADJ - Adjective
ADV - Adverb
N - Noun
PREP - Preposition
V - Verb
VO - Verb Object
Transcript
Cameron: Raymond，我哋之前講到廣東歌嘅時候，討論一個而家好紅嘅男子偶像1組合2，就係 MIRROR。噉我覺得講呢啲嘢嘅時候，都應該講到流行音樂嘅粉絲文化。因爲呢排用 Twitter 嘅時候，我睇到好多唔同地方嘅人好鍾意表達佢對一個明星嘅支持3，所以想問下，廣東話有冇特別嘅俗語可以用嚟講香港本地嘅粉絲文化。
(When we spoke about Cantopop before, we discussed a very popular idol group, MIRROR. I think when we talk about these sorts of things, we should also bring up pop music fan culture. When I have been on Twitter recently, I’ve seen people from a lot of different places enjoy expressing their support for a given celebrity, so I wonder, does Cantonese have particular slang for talking about local Hong Kong fan culture?)
Raymond: 係呀，我覺得聽到你講呢個粉絲文化都幾有趣啦, 因爲今日我哋會成日講話“粉絲”啦，噉但係呢，呢一個現象4當然唔係近年先有嘅。噉因爲呢，你一日有呢一個流行文化，有呢個歌星呀，有明星呀，噉就自然就有佢地嘅追隨者5。你知唔知以前，即係早期6啲呢，我哋唔叫“粉絲”呢，即係追隨呢啲嘅歌星，明星嘅呢啲人，仲有啲咩叫法呀？
(Yup, it’s interesting hearing you talk about this fan culture, given that we now talk about “fans” all the time, though this phenomenon didn’t just arise in recent years. Because once you have popular music, music stars, and superstars, then they will of course have followers. Do you know that before, in an earlier period, they didn’t use “fan2 si1” to talk about the followers of music stars or superstars–do you know what they called them?)
Cameron: 嗯…你講嘅係七十、八十年代7係唔係呀？
(Um…. You’re talking about in the 70s and 80s, right?)
Raymond: 係啦，甚至更早期都一樣有嘅。噉但係嗰陣時我哋唔係叫“粉絲”囉。
(Yup, and it was the same even earlier. But back then we did not use the term “fan2 si1.”)
Cameron: 哦，係講乜嘢呀？
(Ah, what did people say?)
Raymond: 噉呢，呢個字呢，其實都係同英文，噉我哋都知係 “fan” 啦。噉佢嗰個意思呢就係，喺中文呢，就會翻譯做“迷者”或者叫“咩迷，咩迷”啦。例如我鍾意聽佢嘅歌，我就係佢嘅歌迷啦。我鍾意睇佢嘅電影，就係佢嘅影迷啦。噉甚至其實仲可以好多迷嘅。例如你好鍾意睇書，係書迷呀，或者咩迷咩迷。噉呢個係一個講法嚟嘅。噉所以以前我哋就會話，我係佢嘅歌迷，我係佢嘅影迷，譬如我細個嘅時候，當然啦，未有今日嘅最紅嗰啲MIRROR 呀，或者而家今日嘅歌手啦。噉嗰個年代，我哋聽嘅歌就係我哋今日叫嗰啲天皇巨星8。譬如啦舉幾個例子，有許冠傑呀、梅艷芳呀、張國榮呀，等等啦。噉最近都有一套電影係關於梅艷芳。噉佢係八，九十年代香港最紅嘅歌手之一，噉我都算係佢一個歌迷嚟嘅。噉你呢？你係咪都係一個廣東歌嘅歌迷呀？
(Well, this word also corresponds with what we know of as a “fan” in English. That meaning, in Chinese, it translates to “mai4 ze2” [one who is a fan/enthusiast] or “*me1* mai4” [fan of something, where me1 can be replaced by the object of fandom]. For example, if I like listening to someone’s music, then I am his “go1-mai4” [music fan]. If I like seeing her movies, then I am her “jing2-mai4” [film fan]. In fact you can be the fan of quite a few things. As in, if I like reading books, I can be a “syu1-mai4” [book fan], or a fan of this or a fan of that. So this is one way of speaking. In the past we would say, I am a music fan, I am a film fan. For example, back when I was a kid–though of course, we didn’t have the super popular MIRROR of the singers of today–the music we listened to came from those who we would today call “tin1 wong4 geoi6 sing1” [megastars]. I’ll give a few examples, like Sam Hui, Anita Mui, Leslie Cheung, and so forth. There was even a movie about Anita Mui recently. In the 80s and 90s, she was one of the most popular singers in Hong Kong, and I also am one of her fans. What about you? Are you also a Cantopop fan?)
Cameron: 應該係 Beyond 嘅歌迷。我最開始學廣東話嗰陣時，有一個同事畀佢哋嘅光碟9我。我反覆10聽晒，唱 K 嘅時候都會唱佢哋嘅《喜歡你》。
(I’d say I’m a fan of Beyond. When I first started studying Cantonese, one of my colleagues gave me their CD as a gift. I listened to it over and over, and when I sing karaoke, I always sing “Hei2 fun1 nei5.”)
Raymond:係啦，噉呀，所以呢，我諗我哋每個人呢，都有唔同嘅喜好呀，都係唔同嘅歌迷啦。噉但係而家，我哋今日我哋講到廣東歌呢，噉有唔一樣嘅呢啲嘅歌星呀，明星呀噉樣。噉“歌迷”呢個字呢都有變化11。你啱啱提到“粉絲”啦，你知唔知點解我哋叫“粉絲”呀？
(Yes, well, I think everyone has their own preferences and are all different sorts of music fans. But now, when we talk about Cantopop these days, we have different pop stars and celebrities, so “go1-mai4” has changed. You just brought up “fan2-si1”, do you know why we call them that?)
Cameron: 因爲同英文嘅 “fans” 有關係，係咪呀？
(It has to do with the English word “fans,” right?)
Raymond: 係啦，啱啱我哋都提過呢個字啦。噉但係呢“粉絲”我覺得都係近年嚟先講得比較多嘅。因為普通話都係噉樣翻譯嘅。噉喺 90 年代初呢，其實我哋就會用一個音譯12，即係好似廣東話有好多字呢，用英文直接翻譯。譬如我哋有的士呀，巴士呀，“碌屎” “notes” 呀嗰啲，噉樣直接翻譯啦。噉我哋都會直接譯呢個，歌迷，由 “fan” 或者 “fans” 就譯成 “fen1 si2”。噉所以呢，我諗你都聽過啦，我係佢嘅 “fen1 si2”。噉據說呢個講法係喺 90 年代初啦，噉香港有一對呢，即係好受歡迎13嘅電台 DJ，叫軟硬天師。噉佢哋有一首歌，一首 rap 嘅歌裏面有句歌詞有提到 “fen1 si2” 呢個字。噉大家就後來跟住唱呀，就開始用起呢個講法。
(Yup, we just spoke about this word. However, I feel like it is only recently that “fan2-si1” started getting used more, as Mandarin uses the same translation. In the beginning of the 90s, however, we used a transliteration, like with many words in Cantonese, where English is directly translated–for example, taxi, bus, notes, etc., these are direct translations from English. We also did a direct translation for “go1-mai4”, from “fan” or “fans” to “fen1-si2” [note the hard “a” sound in fen]. So I think you have also heard, “I am his fen1-si2.” It’s said this saying arose in the early 90s, back when Hong Kong had a very popular radio DJ pair named Softhard. They had a song, a rap with lyrics that use the term “fen1 si2.” After that, everyone started using the term according to how it was used in the song.)
Cameron: 啊，原來係噉嘅。所以 “fen1 si2” 同“粉絲”呢兩個詞，有啲唔同。同埋聽講話有啲人好鍾意一個組合裏面嘅一個明星，有時呢啲追隨者又有個特別嘅外號14，係咪呀？
(Ah, so that’s how it is. So “fen1 si2” and “fan2 si1” are actually two slightly different terms. Also, I’ve heard that when people really like a certain celebrity within a music group, sometimes these followers will also have a special nickname, right?)
Raymond: 係呀，噉呀呢個叫法呢，呢個語言都隨住15時代呢，即係去演變16呀。噉而家最新嘅講法就係叫咩粉咩粉呀，噉呢個都係一種文字遊戲17嚟嘅。因爲“粉”呢個字本身都可以係“powder” 啦，或者可以係 “pasta” 啦噉樣。噉所以呢，好多呢啲嘅歌星呢，噉佢哋嘅歌迷呢，就會有呢啲花名18喇。我哋今日可以用返而家最流行，最多人講嘅呢個 MIRROR，噉嗰 12 個嘅成員呢，佢哋其中幾個呢，都係，佢哋啲歌迷呢，都係叫咩粉咩粉呀。你有冇聽過呀？
(Yup, this way of referring to fans, it also moves along with the times and evolves. These days they refer to people as “me1-fan2” [“something fan”, or _____-fan, with blank filled in to complete slang term], and it’s a sort of wordplay, since the word “fan2” can literally mean “powder” or “pasta.” So many singers, their fans will have nicknames. Today we can return to the most popular group that people are talking about, MIRROR. The group has 12 members, and for some of them individually their fans will be called some sort of fan2. Have you heard this?
Cameron: 係聽過，都睇過。第一次睇嘅時候我諗嘅就係“呢個係意大利麵，定係中菜麵？”卒之19發現唔係食物嚟嘅，其實係人嚟嘅。
(I’ve heard it, I’ve also read it. The first time I read it, what I thought was, “Is this some sort of Italian noodle, or a Chinese noodle?” Eventually I discovered that it wasn’t a type of food but rather a type of person.)
Raymond:係啦，我或者好快啦，舉幾個例子啦。噉其中呢有一個叫 Anson Kong 啦，噉佢中文叫江𤒹生啦。噉佢嘅歌迷呢，就叫做生粉。你知唔知生粉係乜嘢嚟㗎？
(Yup, I’ll quickly bring up a few examples. Among the members [of MIRROR] is a guy named Anson Kong, his Chinese name is Gong1 Jip6-sang1. His fans are called saang1 fan2. Do you know why they are called saang1 fan2?)
Cameron: 誒…其實我，我諗到嘅就係三藩市。
(Uh… actually, it makes me think of San Francisco [pronounced incorrectly])
Raymond:咩呀？諗到係咩呀？
(Hm? What did you think of?)
Cameron: 三藩市，嗰個…
(San Francisco, that…)
Raymond: 哦，三藩市。
(Oh, San Francisco)
Cameron: 係，三藩市。
(Yes, San Francisco.)
Raymond: 噉其實生粉呢，係你煮餸20用嘅 cornstarch。噉所以呢，聽起上嚟都幾搞笑啦。同埋好多時呢啲嘅叫法，嗰啲名呢，同食都有關嘅。因爲，因爲你食飯噉你就好容易記得啦。噉仲有幾個都好搞笑21嘅，譬如呢另外一個好受歡迎嘅歌手呢，佢叫阿 Jer，佢係叫柳應廷。噉呢，佢嘅花名，佢嘅粉絲嘅花名就叫柳柳粉。柳柳粉，你知唔知柳柳粉係乜嘢嚟㗎？
(Well, saang1 fan2 is the cornstarch used in cooking. So it really sounds quite funny. And many of these ways of naming, these names, have something to do with food, as things that you eat are quite easy to remember. There are many funny ones, like another popular singer, named Jer, his Chinese name is Lau5 Jing3-ting4. Well, his nickname, his fan’s nickname, is lau5 lau5 fan2, do you know what lau5 lau5 fan2 is?)
Cameron: 嗯…係唔係一種麵？
(Uh, is it a type of noodle?)
Raymond: 係喇。噉啦，因爲首先佢姓柳啦，噉呀，柳呢個字係第五聲嘅。噉其實呢個亦都係玩嗰個音啦。噉正式佢哋想指嘅嗰種食物呢，係扭扭粉，“扭”係 twist。噉扭扭粉呢，嗰種扭扭粉呢，其實係義大利粉嘅一種嚟嘅。我都特登查咗一下。嗰個呢，其實我哋亦都叫螺絲粉。噉嗰種義大利粉呢，係 Gemelli，G-e-m-e-l-l-i，你知唔知係邊種麵呀？
(Yup. Because his last name is Lau5, this character is the fifth tone. But it is also a play on sound, as the proper way to refer to this type of food is lau2 lau2 fan2, lau2 means twist. Now this sort of lau2 lau2 fan2 is actually a type of Italian noodle, I especially looked it up, we also call it lo4 si1 fan2. This type of Italian noodle is called Gemelli, G-e-m-e-l-l-i, do you know what type of noodle that is?
Cameron: 係咪 Rigatoni？
(Is it not rigatoni? [Note: definitely not, completely different shapes])
Raymond: 誒…睇吓先。我睇下有冇其他名先。我查到嘅翻譯叫 Gemelli，G-e-m-e-l-l-i，噉佢嘅，即係佢嘅形狀22呀，係好似螺絲噉轉嘅。
(Uh, I’d have to check whether it has other names. What I found is called Gemelli, G-e-m-e-l-l-i, and its shape is twisted like a screw.)
Cameron: 哦…好。
(Oh, got it.)
Raymond: 係啦，其實我都唔知，可能大家仲有其他叫法。噉呢個，但係點解大家而家會想到呢種食物？因爲呢個亦都唔係一個中式嘅食品。但係呢，而家喺麥當勞呢，食飯呢，係食到呢樣嘢嘅。香港嘅麥當勞食到扭扭粉，噉大家就會容易記得喇，其實可以想像到啦。噉呀，最後我講多最後一個粉啦，呢個粉又亦都好搞笑。噉呢個粉呢，等等我搵返嗰個名出嚟先。係啦，佢另外一個成員呢，叫王智德，叫 Alton。噉佢就好出名好大隻嘅。即係佢玩健身23練到好多肌肉啦，好 muscular，好多 muscle。噉大家就叫佢做蛋白24粉。呢個我諗你諗到點樣解釋係咪？
(Yup, but I don’t know whether people have other names for it. But why is everyone thinking about this sort of food then? Because it is also not a type of Chinese food. But now when you eat McDonald’s, you can eat this sort of thing. Hong Kong McDonald’s has lau2 lau2 fan2, so it’s easy for everyone to remember, as you can imagine. As for the last type of fan, this one is also pretty funny. This sort of fan, wait a second for me to check the name…. Yup, so another member [of MIRROR] is named Wong4 Zi3-dak1, or Alton. He is famous for being pretty fit, as he trained to get pretty buff, very muscular, lots of muscle. So everyone calls his fans daan2 baak6 fan2. This I think you know how to explain, right?)
Cameron: 係，就係好多人，佢哋健身之後要飲呢啲嘢，對佢哋嘅身體有乜嘢好處25係咪呀？
(Yes, many people will drink this stuff [protein powder] after they work out, as it benefits their body, right?)
Raymond: 係喇，即係呢，好多人話呢，即係佢哋要食蛋白粉呀，用蛋白粉整啲奶昔26呀，噉樣練到好大隻。噉所以呢大家就叫佢嗰啲歌迷做蛋白粉，我第一次聽到呢個，我覺得呢個係最好笑嘅其中一個。噉所以呢個都係一種語言嘅幽默27嚟嘅。
(Yup, many people say they want to drink protein powder, they’ll use it to make a milkshake, and then they can train to get big. So everyone calls Alton’s fans daan2 baak6 fan2. The first time I heard this one, I thought it was one of the funniest ones of all. It’s all a sort of linguistic humor.)