au2嘔呕
Jyutpingau2
Yaleáu
Definition
To vomit, throw up, or puke.
colloquialbodyhealth
How it's used
Beyond the literal sense of vomiting, this word is frequently used figuratively to describe intense frustration or disgust towards a person or situation. When someone says 嘔心, they are expressing that something is repulsive or makes them feel physically sick from annoyance. It carries a much stronger, more visceral tone than simply saying something is unpleasant.
Examples
He felt very sick after eating and threw up immediately.
Related words
Common mistake
Do not confuse this with 吐, which is often used for spitting out something like a seed or a bone. While 吐 can sometimes mean to vomit in formal or literary contexts, 嘔 is the standard, everyday term for vomiting in Cantonese.
Grammar color guide
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Grammar guides
- LocationHow to say where something is using 喺 (hai2), place words like 度, and the common coverbs that work like English prepositions.
- Serial verbsStringing two or more verbs together without any joining word, like go to the shop buy things. Extremely common in Cantonese.
- 將 disposalHow to move the object in front of the verb with 將, to focus on what happens to it. Common in instructions and writing.
