So I was taught the difference between \u5514\u8a72 (m goi) vs \u591a\u8b1d (do ze) today. Both of these are used in Cantonese dialog and hardly used in text.<\/p>\n
Both of these mean thank you and personally I’ve always used them interchangeably, but was taught the difference between them today. Apparently if money is ever involved, you should use \u591a\u8b1d. \u5514\u8a72 is usually reserved for something small, like assistance provided. I asked if there’s ever a situation where you can use \u5514\u8a72, but not \u591a\u8b1d. They agreed that \u591a\u8b1d can be typically used wherever \u5514\u8a72 is accepted, but not the other way around. So when I said \u5514\u8a72 after getting treated to dinner, it was used incorrectly. I should have used \u591a\u8b1d.<\/p>\n
I asked them how to write \u5514\u8a72, since my Cantonese dialog to text is weak. Usually I ask my father these questions. Like the other day, I asked him how to write poke a hole. In text\/Mandarin (the Chinese I learnt), it’s completely different. I forget why I asked him how to write poke a hole, but it’s \u7be4\u500b\u7abf (duk go lung). Speaking of which, CantoDict<\/a> is an awesome Cantonese Dictionary if you’re ever interested in learning Cantonese.<\/p>\n After seeing the kanji, I began breaking the word apart. First, \u591a\u8b1d means many thanks. \u5514 means not and \u8a72 means should. In other words, \u5514\u8a72 means you shouldn’t have, which I guess can be interpreted as thank you. I’ve been using this phrase for who knows how long and it’s the first time I realized the meaning. Chinese is so fun sometimes!<\/p>\n