cau3 dong3臭檔臭档
Jyutpingcau3 dong3
Yalechau dong
Definition
Bad-tempered; quick-tempered and always getting angry.
colloquialpeopleemotion
How it's used
Originating from the image of a street stall owner who is rude or uncooperative, this term describes someone who is consistently unpleasant or difficult to deal with. It implies a sense of arrogance or a prickly personality rather than just being in a bad mood temporarily. It is frequently used to describe people in service roles or colleagues who make interactions unnecessarily difficult.
Examples
He is usually very bad-tempered, so nobody dares to talk to him.
Related words
Common mistake
Do not confuse this with 臭脾氣, which is a noun phrase meaning 'bad temper'. 臭檔 functions as an adjective and describes the person's character or current attitude, whereas 臭脾氣 refers to the temper itself.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- QuestionsFrom yes or no questions to asking who, what, where, and when. The patterns you need to ask questions naturally in Cantonese.
- ClassifiersCantonese puts a classifier between a number and a noun, and a bare classifier on its own can mean the. Learn the common ones and how to use them.
- ComparisonsHow to say bigger than, the most, the same as, and not as good as. Cantonese uses 過 where Mandarin uses 比, and that catches a lot of learners out.
