陀地

Chinese

		phonetic; declivity; steep bank	earth; ground; field earth; ground; field; place; land; (subor. part. adverbial); ‑ly
trad. (陀地)		陀	地
simp. #(陀地)		陀	地

Etymology

Corrupted from 土地 (tou² dei⁶), which indicates the territories under control of criminal gangs.

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): to⁴ dei^6-2

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• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: to⁴ dei^6-2
    • Yale: tòh déi
    • Cantonese Pinyin: to⁴ dei^6-2
    • Guangdong Romanization: to⁴ déi^6-2
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰɔː²¹ tei̯²²⁻³⁵/

Noun

陀地

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) protection money

   收陀地 [Cantonese]  ―  sau¹ to⁴ dei^6-2 [Jyutping]  ―  collect protection money

2. (Hong Kong Cantonese) local bully; local thug
3. (Hong Kong Cantonese, slang, derogatory) local prostitute

   • 有北姑有陀地，百五蚊全套。 [Cantonese, trad. and simp.]

     From: Stephen Chow, From Beijing with Love

     jau⁵ bak¹ gu¹ jau⁵ to⁴ dei^6-2, baak³ ng⁵ man¹ cyun⁴ tou³. [Jyutping]

     We have girls from both China and Hong Kong and it costs $150 for full package.

Synonyms

• (protection money): 保護費／保护费 (bǎohùfèi)

Coordinate terms

• (prostitutes from Hong Kong): 北姑 (“prostitutes from Mainland China”)