zing2 bou1 git6 je5 jan4 taan3整煲傑嘢人嘆整煲杰嘢人叹
Jyutpingzing2 bou1 git6 je5 jan4 taan3
Yalejíng bōu giht yéh yàhn taan
Definition
To make someone really suffer; to give someone a lot of grief.
colloquialpeopleemotion
How it's used
This idiom uses the metaphor of a thick, unpalatable soup to describe a messy or difficult situation created for others. It carries a strong sense of resentment or frustration towards someone who has caused trouble, often through incompetence or deliberate sabotage. The phrase is almost exclusively used to describe a situation where the speaker or a group is forced to deal with the consequences of someone else's actions.
Examples
He really gave us a hard time this time, making everyone have to work overtime.
Related words
Common mistake
Do not use this phrase to describe a minor inconvenience, as it implies a significant or burdensome problem. It is also strictly colloquial and should be avoided in any professional or formal setting.
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).
