D'iu lay
Fuck you
/tiːu˨˩ lei˩˧/ "dyew LAY (falling then rising tones)"
severity: strong vulgarstreet
Fuck you — Cantonese 屌你 (diu nei), one of the language’s most direct and common strong expletives
Usage examples
- 屌你！你做乜嘢？Diu nei! Nei zou mat ye?Fuck you! What are you doing?
- 𨳒你老母！Diu nei lou mou!Fuck your mother!
Etymology
Written 屌你 or 𨳒你 in Chinese characters. 屌 (diu, Jyutping: diu2) originally meant 'penis' and evolved into the primary Cantonese verb meaning 'to fuck'. 你 (nei5) means 'you'. Together, 屌你 is the direct Cantonese equivalent of 'fuck you'. The apostrophe in D'iu reflects a historical romanization convention attempting to capture the initial consonant cluster. See also: 'diew lei' (1973), an alternate romanization of the same phrase.
Cultural notes
屌你 (diu nei) is among the most common and widely recognized expletives in Cantonese, used throughout Hong Kong and Cantonese-speaking communities worldwide. It appears extensively in Hong Kong cinema and pop culture, often partially bleeped or euphemized as '鳩你' (gau nei) in broadcast media. The romanization 'D'iu lay' is an older or Westernized spelling; 'diu nei' (Jyutping) and 'diew lei' are more common modern forms.
Same meaning, other languages
Accuracy
93% of 15 voters say this translation is accurate.