Something Just for Laughs
I didn’t think this would be funny but it’s something I found interesting. I was watching a Hong Kong drama and we all know that in each of these dramas, the subtitles were in Standard Chinese rather than Standard Cantonese (they also come in English now!). Well, it’s not surprising that the subtitles translate the dialogue from Cantonese to Mandarin. Fair enough right? So there was this one scene that a police offer stops a driver and tells him to step out of the car. She said (in Cantonese).
即刻落車 (C: jik1 haak1 lok6 che1)
Where 即刻 (C: jik1 haak1) means immediately, 落 (C: lok6) means “to go down, or come down”, and 車 (C: che1) means car. Now Mandarin doesn’t use these characters, they use 馬上 (M: ma3 shang4) for immediately and 下 (M: xia4) for “to go down, or come down”. Therefore your translation which came out in the subs became this.
馬上下車 (M: ma3 shang4 xia4 che1)
Wait, wait, wait, who out there knows Mandarin? 馬上 also literally means “on a horse” because “being on a horse” means “immediately”. So basically you just said “on the horse, off the car!” and that translates to “step out of the car immediately”. Wow, I found that ironic. I think it’d be funnier if the police officer told the guy to get off of a horse, then it’d be:
馬上下馬 (M: ma3 shang4 xia4 ma3)
Currently I’m working on a large Cantonese project with some supporters, I need all the help and brainpower I need. Hopefully this comes to fruition. In the meantime, here was your minor Cantonese lesson!
In Cantonese, you say 即刻 (C: jik1 haak1)
In Mandarin/Standard Chinese, you say 馬上 (C: ma3 shang4)
In English, you say “Immediately”
I know there are discrepancies that exists, voice them out in the comments for me 
I hope to write more soon!
Related posts:
Views of the Cantonese Language Protest
Comments
Yes, 馬上下車 is indeed ironic! Thanks for picking that up and nicely explaining. And the little lesson too.
Which large Cantonese project are you working on? Is it something that Canto learners like I can look forward to?
Also thanking Jeff for Yang Guifei story. I like these stories. One of the joys of learning the language!
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What’s this project about anyway? I’d like to help out if I can.
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MakMak Reply:
August 10th, 2011 at 9:33 pm
Hmm, do you mind if I email you with the email you provided?
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Canto learner Reply:
August 10th, 2011 at 11:01 pm
Some secret project..
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MakMak Reply:
August 12th, 2011 at 6:34 pm
Semi yes, Semi No? But it’s hopefully something that can make a huge impact?
皓皓 Reply:
August 18th, 2011 at 7:15 am
Of course, you can e-mail me the details. You got me really curious lol.
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Haha. That’s Mandarin for you.. The irony 
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The Cantonese phrase is usually an order, like something a driver would tell their passenger if they were arguing and it got out of hand.
Is the Mandarin phrase similar in tone or not?
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hey Mak Mak,
send me an email with details and i’d be happy to help out with any project that will help fellow learners of cantonese.
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In the old days, there are imperial couriers who must hop on another horses once it reaches a place where a fresh one is kept. People must keep and maintain such horses solely for this purpose. Remember the line from a poem about Yang Gui Fei who must have have her favorite lychees for breakfast and that is about 800 miles from Loyang!
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