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Came across the article “Inquiry into the Chinese and Foreign Philosophies of Swearing” by a Lin Siyun the other day (via Simon and HuiChieh). While I don’t agree on all the points made in the article, for the sake of discussion I would like to point to the excellent Cantonese Swearing Research Net. Hopefully I’ll have time to translate that into English some time in the future, but suffice to say if the points raised by Lin Siyun are true, then Hong Kong-style swearing is truly the fusion of East and West.

Update Even if you can’t read Chinese, I suggest Section 9.5 — English Homonyms. At least you’ll then know when a Hong Konger is actually swearing. (With apologies to Macau, France, and the Netherlands.)