long4 tan1 fu2 jin3狼吞虎嚥狼吞虎咽
Jyutpinglong4 tan1 fu2 jin3
Yalelòhng tān fú yin
Definition
To wolf down food; to devour or gorge oneself quickly and greedily.
colloquialfooddaily actions
How it's used
This idiom vividly describes someone eating with extreme haste and lack of manners, often because they are starving or in a rush. While it is a four character idiom, it is used quite naturally in spoken Cantonese to describe someone acting like a hungry beast. It carries a slightly humorous or critical tone, implying the person is not enjoying their food properly.
Examples
Why are you wolfing down your food? Eat slowly.
He was so hungry that he wolfed down two bowls of rice.
Common phrases
wolf down a meal
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
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.
