mou5 jam1 gung1冇陰功冇阴功
Jyutpingmou5 jam1 gung1
Yalemóuh yām gūng
Definition
Cruel, heartless, or cold-blooded.
colloquialemotionpeople
How it's used
Rooted in Buddhist concepts of karma, this term literally suggests that one's actions will result in a lack of merit or good fortune. It is frequently used to express moral outrage or deep pity for a victim of mistreatment. While it describes the perpetrator as cruel, it also carries a strong sense of divine or karmic judgment against them.
Examples
He even cheats the elderly, he is truly heartless.
Related words
Common phrases
truly heartless
Common mistake
Do not confuse this with 陰功, which is often used as an exclamation of pity or sympathy, as in 陰功囉, meaning poor thing. Using 冇陰功 describes the person doing the harm, whereas 陰功 describes the situation or the victim.
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).
