Examples

To better illustrate what is Kongish and the case of stereotype/discrimination of it, we have collected some examples from different sources. You are strongly encouraged to take a look at these amusing and relatable examples!

1.1 Example of a Kongish excerpt

1.2 Example of discriminatory comments on the Kongish excerpt

Title:

發現一種比火星文更難睇o既語言 There's a language that's even harder to understand than Martian language

Example 1.1:

最鬼憎睇呢D, 一睇到就頭痛 I hate reading this kind of language [Kongish] so much, it gives me a migraine every time i read it!

見到d懶潮既港女咁打就想Hi畢佢地 Every time I see the Kong girls using this type of language [Kongish] to seem "trendy", I really want to hit them!

This is an example of discrimination against Kongish. The title of this online discussion thread already contains discriminatory language, where it compares Kongish to the alien Martian language, hence labelling Konish as incomprehensible. The commenters all hold a strong negative attitude towards Kongish, exaggeratedly commenting that Kongish gives them "a migraine" and associating Kongish with being "trendy" (a sarcastic comment). They also have a pre-assumption that Kongish users are often "Kong girls," suggesting how they categorize Kongish as a variety of English that is negative (there is a common negative image of the term "Kong girl). They do not acknowledge Kongish as a language widely used among a community, and discriminate those who use it as they themselves are unable to understand the language.

This video demonstrates how Kongish is not widely used among the society, where it is unaccessible to many of the interviewees. It shows the diverse attitudes towards Kongish, where users embrace it and integrate Kongish in their daily lives, while others who do not understand it treat it as a nuisance. It is important to note that though the video is testing random people in the street on "Chinglish," there examples are actually examples of Kongish.

This commercial is an example of a negative view of Kongish. It treats Kongish as a bad practise that would affect students' Cantonese and English standards, and stresses the need to do away with Kongish. It reflecting the phenomenon where the mainstream looks down on Kongish as "incorrect" without acknowledging that language evolves, where the linguistic process of Kongish is totally normal among people billingual in Cantonese and English. Also, like the previous example, it refers to Kongish as "Chinglish" even though the examples clearly show the Kongish characteristics of transliteration or literal translation.

This musical video is from a local all-girl band is called GDJYB, which is an abbreviation for GaiDan Jing YukBeng (a transliteration of Cantonese for steamed egg and pork mince). Other than infusing Kongish in their band name, they have also utilised Kongish in their lyrics in order to reflect the concerns of Hong Kong people. For example, the title is an example of a form of Kongish, literal translation, where "Double NoNo" represents the children of Chinese families who is a Hong Kong resident despite neither parents being a Hong Kong resident.

This is an illustration in South China Morning Post that gives examples of one form of Kongish, literal translation. The examples are humorous and they highlight the cultural dimension of Kongish, where users must be knowledged in these Chinese proverbs in order to understand this illustration.