There are many Feng Shui terms used by the Cantonese people
to curse others. I just learnt some from my fellow colleagues and the below
terms are meant for sharing purposes only as it is not so good for the one who
curses; and also the one being cursed. Practically no one would use the below
terms these days outside Hong Kong or Guang’dong areas:
1.
Selling salted duck egg (卖咸鸭蛋):
meaning to die and become a ghost. The old people believe when a people died,
his/her soul will become ghost. And the salted duck eggs are one of ghosts’
favourite food. So, by asking someone to ‘sell salted duck egg’ means to ask
him/her to ‘go to hell’.
2.
Nailing cover (钉盖):
meaning nailing ‘coffin’ cover also means ‘to die for sure’. You see, when a
corpse is placed in a coffin with the coffin cover securely nailed; there is no
way for this person to literarily ‘come out again’.
3.
With the ground collapsing/pouring (趁地塌/淋): Both
terms refer to the grave of a person suddenly sinks, collapses, soaked in water
or being poured by water. These are very bad terms used to wish that the person
would cannot rest-in-peace and also all his descendent will also be affected.
By using these terms, directly means the person and all his descendent are
cursed to have no good ending.
4.
Cannot decay (唔化): This is a Feng Shui term
used to describe when a corpse became mummified and failed to decay. In ‘yin’
feng shui, when a body failed to rot, then all the descendent will face some
very bad consequences. In another way, the ‘cannot decay’ may also mean ‘failed
to digest what the ancient’s wisdom’ (食古不化).
5.
The whole family prospers (含家富贵):
in short, this term simply refers to ask the whole family to ‘go to hell’. For
normal folks, the only time they can become ‘prosper’ are when they died. This
is because the dead are normally being offered a large quantity of paper ‘gold
ingots’ and ‘silver ingots’ so to speak.
6.
Returning to Mount Tang/Great Grandpa’s Mountain
(返唐山/大伯公山):
Both terms literarily mean ‘to return to the grave’. In old days, people who
worked in a foreign land would want to be buried in his/her homeland and the
graveyards are normally located on a mountain. So, by asking a person to ‘return
to Mount Tang’ means to ask someone to ‘go back and die there’. And, to ask
someone to return to his/her Great Grandpa’s Mountain meaning to ask the person
to be buried beside his/her ancestors.
All of the terms must be cursed in Cantonese to bring out
the flavour however as those cursing terms carry no meaning once translated to
English or any other dialects. These cursing terms can also be combined to add
to the spice of the curse. For example:
“So-and-so, you are a failed to decay one! You go and quickly
have your coffin nailed and go to sell salted duck eggs quickly. Hopefully your
grave would collapse and be soaked then your whole family would prosper!”
Unfortunately speaking, I cannot make up more acute sentences
than those old men and old women in the street. I am sure, armed with the above
basic terms; you will catch one or two phrases hidden within those street
conversations. Sometimes the ones who said those terms don’t mean bad; it is
just a habit and custom within local folks to speak in such a way. So,
foreigners and tourists be warned and heads up.
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