ging2 hyun2警犬
Jyutpingging2 hyun2
Yalegíng hyún
Definition
Police dog; also used as a derogatory term for a police officer.
- police dog; a dog trained to assist the police with duties such as drug detection
- slanga derogatory term for a police officer
colloquialanimalspeople
How it's used
Beyond its literal meaning as a working animal, this term is frequently used as a derogatory label for police officers in political or social discourse. When used in this secondary sense, it implies that the person is merely a submissive tool of authority, lacking independent thought or moral agency. Context is everything, as the literal meaning is common in news reports about K9 units while the figurative usage is highly offensive.
Measure word
zek3隻jekExamples
That police dog is very smart, it found the drugs really quickly.
Related words
Common phrases
to train police dogs
to deploy police dogs
Common mistake
Do not use the term to describe a regular pet dog or a stray, as it specifically refers to trained working dogs or is used as a political insult. Using it to refer to a police officer in their presence is considered a direct provocation.
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).
