Pop or soda? Trash can or rubbish bin? Lexical differences in the names of daily objects exist in regional varieties of Cantonese, just like in English.
Most regional differences develop from tradition. Guangdong Cantonese uses vocabulary that most closely resembles Mandarin, while Hong Kong Cantonese uses another set of terms. Here are some examples:
Air-conditioning 空調 (hung1 tiu4) ＝ 冷氣 (laang3 hei3)
Refrigerator 冰箱 (bing1 seung1) ＝ 雪櫃 (syut3 gwai6)
Paper-clip 回形針 (wui4 ying4 jam1) ＝ 萬字夾 (maan6 ji6 gaap3)
Drinking straw 吸管 (kap1 gun2) ＝ 飲筒 (yam2 tung2)
Furthermore, English spoken during the British colonial years greatly influenced the language used by Hong Kong people. Many Hong Kong Cantonese terms are loan words from English, without any particular meaning when broken down word by word.
Bus 公交車 (gung1 gaau1 che1) ＝ 巴士 (ba1 si2)
Taxi 出租車 (cheut1 jou1 che1) ＝ 的士 (dik1 si2)
Strawberry 草莓 (chou2 mui4) ＝ 士多啤梨 (si6 do1 be1 lei2)
Sometimes, different terms from Cantonese varieties involve just switching the order of the words! (But with slight tonal changes.)
Eraser 擦胶 (chaat3 gaau1) ＝ 胶擦 (gaau1 chaat2)
Midnight snack 夜宵 (ye6 siu1) ＝ 宵夜 (siu1 ye5)
Boxed lunch 盒飯 (hap5 faan6) ＝ 飯盒 (faan6 hap2)
Here are two websites with further examples. Keep these differences in mind next time you visit Cantonese-speaking regions to avoid mix-ups and confusion!
