hung1 hau2空口
Jyutpinghung1 hau2
Yalehūng háu
Definition
To eat side dishes or condiments plainly without rice or other staple food.
colloquialfooddaily actions
How it's used
Focuses on the act of consuming savory side dishes or condiments without a staple like rice or noodles to balance the flavor. It implies that the item being eaten is intended to be a companion to something else rather than a standalone snack. Use it when someone is eating something intense, like salty preserved vegetables or spicy sauces, in a way that seems unbalanced or excessive.
Examples
Why are you eating so much chili sauce all by itself?
Related words
Common phrases
to eat plain
Common mistake
Do not confuse this with 空口講白話, which is an idiom meaning to make empty promises or talk without taking action. While both share the characters, the latter is a metaphorical expression about speech rather than a literal description of eating habits.
Grammar color guide
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Adjective
Adverb
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Grammar guides
- Directional complementsThe small words added after a verb to show direction of movement, like up, down, out, in, and back. Common in everyday Cantonese.
- DemonstrativesThis and that with 呢 and 嗰, the personal pronouns, and how 哋 turns I, you, and he into we, you all, and they.
- Resultative complementsSticking a result word onto a verb to show how it turned out, like eat until full or look and find. A productive everyday pattern.
