古惑仔

gǔhuòzǎi

noun

Meanings

1 young triad gangster
2 street punk; hoodlum
3 Young and Dangerous, the Hong Kong film series about young triad members begun in 1996

Characters

(古惑: crafty)

(古惑: tricky)

Examples

HSK 6

他年轻时混过黑社会，当过古惑仔。

Tā niánqīng shí hùn guo hēishèhuì, dāng guo gǔhuòzǎi.

When he was young he ran with the triads as a young gangster.

HSK 7-9

九十年代，很多香港年轻人都看过《古惑仔》系列电影。

Jiǔshí niándài, hěnduō Xiānggǎng niánqīngrén dōu kàn guo 《 Gǔhuòzǎi 》 xìliè diànyǐng.

In the nineties, lots of young people in Hong Kong watched the "Young and Dangerous" films.

Tips

register

A Cantonese word: 古惑 (gu² waak⁶) means "crafty, up to tricks" and 仔 means "kid". Mandarin speakers know it from Hong Kong films and say gǔhuòzǎi.

culture

The films, adapted from a popular Hong Kong comic, follow 陈浩南, played by 郑伊健, and his sworn brothers, among them Chicken, played by 陈小春, as they rise in a Causeway Bay triad. They inspired a wave of imitations and many worried articles about teenage gang culture.

Stroke Order

古 gǔ

惑 huò

仔 zǎi