lei5 wat1理屈
Jyutpinglei5 wat1
Yaleléih wāt
Definition
Indefensible, or unable to defend one's position due to a lack of sound reasoning.
colloquialcommunicationpeople
How it's used
Focuses on the state of being unable to justify one's actions or arguments due to a lack of logical ground. It is often used when someone is caught in a lie or a hypocritical position and has no choice but to fall silent. Unlike formal debates, this is frequently used in heated personal arguments to point out that the other person is clearly in the wrong.
Examples
He is so unreasonable, he really has no leg to stand on.
Common mistake
Do not confuse this with the Mandarin term 理屈, which is rarely used in the same way. In Cantonese, it is specifically used to describe the feeling of being cornered in a verbal dispute, whereas learners might mistakenly try to use it as a noun for 'logic' or 'reasoning' in general.
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).
