maan6 jan4 hung1 hong6萬人空巷万人空巷
Definition
Crowded and bustling; describes the whole town turning out to welcome someone or celebrate an event.
How it's used
Literally meaning that ten thousand people leave their lanes empty, this idiom describes a situation where everyone has gone out to attend a major event. It is often used to emphasize the massive scale of a crowd or the popularity of a public spectacle. While it implies a bustling scene, it specifically highlights the emptiness of the residential areas because everyone is gathered elsewhere.
Examples
Related words
Common phrases
Common mistake
Learners often mistakenly use this to describe a place that is simply crowded or busy, but it specifically implies that people have left their homes to congregate in one place. It is not appropriate for describing a place that is just naturally busy, like a shopping mall on a weekend.
Grammar color guide
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).
