Sunday, 5 June 2022

mong ka mong ciu - what do you think this mean

Soon after Lim Dai Kim’s 林大欽 wife finished teaching the children a nursery rhyme, Lim Dai Kim said:

a1di6 a1mue6mue6

阿弟阿妹妹

Girls and boys

Se5deng5 zoin5 lo2 mou6 houn2sai1

祠堂前裸舞虎獅

(there) is a lion dance in front of the ancestral hall

mou6 houn2sai1 or some say as mong6 houn2sai1 means to dance a lion dance 舞虎獅 The subtitles use the wrong mou6 茂 character and even native speakers write incorrectly.

You should know to dance is said as tiao3bhu2 跳舞

and this character 舞 is said as bhu2 when it is used as a noun and mou6 or mong6 when used as a verb.

There is another Teochew expression: mong6 ka1 mong6 ciu2 舞骹舞手 and before I could read Chinese, I used to think it was mong5 ka1 mong5 ciu2 摸骹摸手 i.e. a man getting fresh with a lady and touching her. Well, mong6 ka1 mong6 ciu2 舞骹舞手 means to move one’s hands and legs.


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