daai6 ji5 lung1大耳窿
Jyutpingdaai6 ji5 lung1
Yaledaaih yíh lūng
Definition
A loan shark or usurer; also refers to an illegal high-interest loan.
- loan shark; usurer who lends money at illegal interest rates
- an illegal high-interest loan; usury
colloquialmoneypeople
How it's used
The term originates from the colonial era when illegal moneylenders would hide promissory notes in their large earlobes to avoid police detection. It carries a strong negative connotation and is used exclusively to describe predatory, illegal lenders rather than legitimate financial institutions. It is common to pair this with the verb 追數 when describing their aggressive debt collection tactics.
Measure word
go3個goExamples
You must never borrow money from a loan shark.
That loan shark came to find him to collect the debt again.
Related words
Common phrases
to borrow money from a loan shark
loan shark debt collection
Common mistake
Learners sometimes mistake this for a literal description of someone with large ears, but it is strictly a derogatory term for an illegal moneylender. Do not use it to describe a banker or a legitimate lender, as it implies criminal activity and extortion.
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).
