cim4 seoi2潛水潜水
Jyutpingcim4 seoi2
Yalechìhm séui
Definition
To dive or swim underwater, or figuratively, to disappear and stay out of contact.
- to dive; to go underwater, often with scuba gear for recreation or work
- figurativeto disappear; to go offline or stay out of contact for a long period
colloquialsportsslang
How it's used
Beyond the literal meaning of scuba diving, this term is extremely common in daily life as slang for someone who has gone silent or disappeared from a social group. It is frequently used in online forums to describe a user who reads posts but never comments, known as a lurker. The metaphor draws on the idea of being submerged and invisible to those on the surface.
Examples
He hasn't shown up for a long time, it's like he's gone off the grid.
Related words
Common mistake
Do not confuse the literal activity with the slang usage when someone says someone has潛咗水, as they are almost certainly referring to their sudden social disappearance rather than an actual underwater excursion.
Grammar color guide
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Grammar guides
- In 30 secondsThe whole language at a glance. No tenses, no plurals, six tones, sentence particles. Read this before you dive into any specific topic.
- ParticlesSentence particles add tone, emotion, and nuance. Learn the most common particles in Cantonese and how to use them.
- Possession (嘅)How to say my, your, and his, and how to link a describing word to a noun, all with the little word 嘅 (ge3).
