delay no more

Back in July, I was doing a video shoot at work and one of the kids came up to me and said 'Nice shirt'. I had bought it from G.O.D. (Goods of Desire), one of my favourite shops in Hong Kong. There isn't anything special about my shirt. It just says:

I NEED 2TIX
I HAVE DO$H
A 1965 SIGNED
DELAY NO MORE
TEE FROM H.k.

I just thought it was one of those T-shirts that didn't make any sense. You can find a lot of those in HK. But I found out it DID mean something. I was having dinner with my friend and she was talking about how her friend bought her son a shirt that said 'Delay No More' because her son was always late. The conversation went something like this:

L: Oh, I have one of those shirts.
D: Do you know what it means?
L: Uh, Delay No More? No ...
D: It's something crude ...
L: (a light bulb suddenly appears over my head) Oh my gosh, it's actually 'diu neih louh mou'! I've been wearing this shirt to work for weeks!

According to my 'A Dictionary of Cantonese Slang' (yes, I actually have this dictionary), diu neih louh mouh means: [f**k your mother] used to describe obscene abuse, agression, strong emphasis, surprise or amazement.

So that's why that kid said 'Nice shirt'.

*

A few days ago, I went with my mom to G.O.D. and she picked out a shirt that had Delay No More scribbled all over it. I said nay and opted for a different one. If she only knew what it really meant ...