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eration to be found in wine. Then there is Journey to the West, which has been translated into English, where the Monkey King goes in search of immortality. We have Chinese opera and puppets (Liu, 1995:43-58). A great deal of mirth is to be found at Hong Kong festivals, whether it be at the Cheung Chau Bun Festival or the festival of the Hakka Boy God, Tam Kung. Then again, close friends of a bridegroom get a great deal of enjoyment from making fun of him on his wedding night.
There is also considerable humour (funniness) in the countless everyday expressions of 'old one-hundred names' (the man in the street). Such sayings which can be described as 'words that work,' are as common in China as chopsticks. For example, inserting money in a car-parking meter is known as 'feeding the hungry tiger,' and, when one is 'booked,' the 'ticket' placed under the windscreen wiper of one's car by a traffic warden, is called naau yuk kon (4), which is slang meaning a thin slice of Chinese dried, sweet beef. There is also a great deal of humour in the vocabularies of merchants and con men, nicknames and clever allusions to everyday objects and curses (Bolton, 1997:299). To scold someone is also an art which onlookers often treat as entertainment. The art is for the person to stand there and give the other person face and let him or her have their say. Then, after remaining quiet, the other person steps in and lets the other party have it!
The Chinese language abounds with expressions, many commonly used, which make you smile on the outside and laugh within. There are amusing adages such as:
(a) Melon fields, under the pear tree.
(Cantonese know, when this is said it means: don't bend down in a melon field or adjust your hat under a pear tree, or people may think you are stealing melons or pears. Thus, it implies, do not arouse suspicion.)
(b) When a pretty woman marries an ugly man it is like sticking fresh flowers behind the ears of a donkey.
(c) Local ginger is not hot.
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eration to be found in wine. Then there is Journey to the West, which has been translated into English, where the Monkey King goes in search of immortality. We have Chinese opera and puppets (Liu, 1995:43-58). A great deal of mirth is to be found at Hong Kong festivals, whether it be at the Cheung Chau Bun Festival or the festival of the Hakka Boy God, Tam Kung. Then again, close friends of a bridegroom get a great deal of enjoyment from making fun of him on his wedding night.
There is also considerable humour (funniness) in the countless everyday expressions of 'old one-hundred names' (the man in the street). Such sayings which can be described as 'words that work,' are as com- mon in China as chopsticks. For example inserting money in a car- parking meter is known as 'feeding the hungry tiger,' and, when one is 'booked,' the 'ticket' placed under the windscreen wiper of one's car by a traffic warden, is called naau yuk kon (4), which is slang meaning a thin slice of Chinese dried, sweet beef. There is also a great deal of humour in the vocabularies of merchants and con men, nick- names and clever allusions to everyday objects and curses (Bolton, 1997:299). To scold someone is also an art which onlookers often treat as entertainment. The art is for the person to stand there and give the other person face and let him or her have their say. Then, after remain- ing quiet, the other person steps in and lets the other party have it!
The Chinese language abounds with expressions, many commonly used, which make you smile on the outside and laugh within. There are amusing adages such as:
(a) Melon fields, under the pear tree.
(Cantonese know, when this is said it means: don't bend down in a melon field or adjust your hat under a pear tree, or people may think you are stealing melons or pears. Thus, it implies, do not arouse suspicion.)
(b) When a pretty woman marries an ugly man it is like sticking fresh flowers behind the ears of a donkey.
(c) Local ginger is not hot.
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