Hong Kong lecturer unpacks youth slang from “0” to “KAM”
SingTao · 1 SOURCES1 day ago4 MIN
Summary
A recent online discussion over hard-to-decipher youth slang has prompted renewed attention to how younger Hong Kong people speak. In an interview with Sing Tao Education published on September 12, Hong Kong Baptist University Department of Chinese Language lecturer Siu Yan-ho (蕭欣浩) broke down several expressions now circulating online and among young people.
Key Points
- Sing Tao Education interviewed Hong Kong Baptist University Department of Chinese Language senior lecturer Siu Yan-ho on September 12 to explain several youth slang terms that have become online talking points.
- Siu said “na zha liao” means “so what” or “how so”, adding that the phrase had already existed online before regaining attention through recent media interviews with young people.
- He said the “0” in terms such as “0 chat” and “0 respect” quantifies the idea of “completely not” or “none at all”, meaning no communication or no respect.
- Siu described “sai yat”, short for “world number one”, as a Cantonese contraction that became common around the Olympics before expanding to food, songs and idols.
- He said “KAM” may have evolved from the character for awkwardness, “gaan”, with users typing Roman letters because the Chinese character is harder to input and a mistaken spelling may have stuck.
Why It Matters
The explanations show how online language in Hong Kong can move quickly from niche usage to mainstream discussion once amplified by media and social platforms. They also illustrate how Cantonese slang keeps changing through abbreviation, sound shifts and typing habits, making intergenerational communication harder without shared context.