白鮓

Chinese

		white; empty; blank white; empty; blank; bright; clear; plain; pure; gratuitous	preserved fish
trad. (白鮓)		白	鮓
simp. (白鲊)		白	鲊
alternative forms		白炸 白蚱 白䖳

Etymology

The alternative form 白炸 is misinterpretation of the character 鮓／鲊 as jellyfish sting.

The sense of traffic police is from the white helmets and white uniforms they wear, resembling a jellyfish.

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): baak⁶ zaa³

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• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: baak⁶ zaa³
    • Yale: baahk ja
    • Cantonese Pinyin: baak⁹ dzaa³
    • Guangdong Romanization: bag⁶ za³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /paːk̚² t͡saː³³/

Noun

白鮓

1. (Cantonese) jellyfish
2. (Hong Kong Cantonese, slang, dated) traffic police officer

Synonyms

• 水母 (shuǐmǔ), 海蜇 (hǎizhé)
• (Hokkien) 海䖳, 石鏡／石镜