laan6 taan1 zi2爛攤子烂摊子
Jyutpinglaan6 taan1 zi2
Yalelaahn tāan jí
Definition
A mess, shambles, or chaotic situation left behind by someone.
colloquialworkother
How it's used
Refers specifically to a chaotic or problematic situation that someone else has created and abandoned. It implies that the person currently dealing with it is forced to take responsibility for someone else's incompetence or sudden departure. The imagery of a broken street stall suggests a scene of disarray that requires significant effort to organize or repair.
Measure word
go3個goExamples
After he left, he left a mess for me to clean up.
Related words
Common phrases
to clean up a mess
to leave behind a shambles
Common mistake
Do not use this to describe a simple mess like a messy room or a cluttered desk. It is reserved for complex, problematic situations or projects that have gone wrong and require a serious effort to fix.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- LocationHow to say where something is using 喺 (hai2), place words like 度, and the common coverbs that work like English prepositions.
- Serial verbsStringing two or more verbs together without any joining word, like go to the shop buy things. Extremely common in Cantonese.
- 將 disposalHow to move the object in front of the verb with 將, to focus on what happens to it. Common in instructions and writing.
