A Cantonese Metaphor
- Peter K F Cheung SBS
- Jan 13, 2021
- 2 min read
FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. STUDY - MORNING
Phone in hand, PETER is checking a Quora answer request.
PETER (V.O.): What is a strong metaphor for a person who is being obtuse?
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Such a person is mentally dull.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When I was studying English Literature and appreciating literary works, I compared metaphors eg with similes.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Later, when I was doing logic and law, I learned that argument by analogy can raise the level of explanation.
Act 2
INT. STUDY - CONTINUOUS
PETER (V.O) (Cont'd): What are the fine differences among these figures of speech?
Peter researches with his phone.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): A metaphor is poetically saying something is something else eg. the world is a stage and we are performers.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): A simile is saying something is like something else eg life is like a box of chocolates.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And authors use metaphors and similes to create analogies for the purpose of explanation or clarification.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): To explain pointlessness, an analogy can be "Salvaging that crisis is like rearranging chairs in the sinking Titanic".
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Ah, I've thought of a Cantonese metaphor. An obtuse person is a lantern mounted with cowhide ie 牛皮燈籠.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd):But is Cantonese poetic?
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The Cantonese idiom is written and spoken in verse rather than prose, and the style is emotionally sensitive too.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Cantonese dialect is tonal and stress-based. Cantonese has 9 sounds and 6 tones 九聲六調, it can be musical.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Mandarin has 4-5 tones ie 1st flat tone, 2nd rising tone, 3rd dip tone, 4th falling tone and 5th neutral tone.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Having said an obtuse person is a lantern mounted with cowhide ie 牛皮燈籠, how am I going to explain the latter part of the allegorical saying歇後語?
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Would Quorans be imaginative enough? Not all Chinese can understand the Cantonese idiom.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): To reveal the hidden meaning of the Cantonese metaphoric analogy, I need to state the obvious.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Let me write this: No matter how the lantern is lit, others see no light 點極唔明.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Is it clear enough? Not necessarily.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Let me add a parenthesis: ie the lantern is never lit up or "enlightened".
After taking a deep breath, Peter types his answer on the phone.
Act 3
INT. STUDY - LATER
Phone in hand, Peter checks the viewership of his answer.
PETER (V.O.): Not bad. The metaphor is a strong one.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When I publish something on social media, I expect the quality of viewers to be very diverse.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In my one Quora answer which has attracted over 3.4M views so far, there're a few dozen obtuse commentators.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The equivalent term of "obtuse" in Chinese is 鈍, which should be understood by all Chinese.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Incidentally, Cantonese has a long list of notable figures, from politicians to entertainers.
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Entertaining the Quora answer request has sharpened my mind.
Peter smiles.
FADE OUT.
THE END
Comments