ang kong kia
- noun
- Offensive
:
agarrado (despectivo)
- Her little brother is known as the family's ang kong kia because he never shares his snacks.
Examples
-
Stop being such an ang kong kia and share your toys with your friends!
-
My brother is a real ang kong kia when it comes to sharing his toys.
-
No one likes to play with an ang kong kia who whines when things don't go his way.
-
Don't be such an ang kong kia at the party!
-
Her little brother is known as the family's ang kong kia because he never shares his snacks.
-
No one wants to be friends with an ang kong kia who always demands everything for himself.
-
When he refused to let his sister play with his new game, everyone called him an ang kong kia.
How Selfish
2
5.3
1
6.9
458
1.0
- Offensive
- US
56
3.9
- Offensive
33
2.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
ang + kong + kia
All three constituent forms are not standard English words (listed as '[Word not found in dictionary]') and the phrase is regional/dialectal slang (Hokkien-derived) whose meaning 'spoiled/selfish person' is lexicalized rather than compositionally built from transparent English morphemes. There is no predictable semantic mapping from any literal readings of the elements to the stated meaning, so an average B1 learner would not be able to infer the sense from the parts.
Etymology
Ang kong kia may come from old Hokkien where ang kong was a small red envelope for money and kia means 'child'. Picture a child clutching that red envelope and refusing to share, so ang kong kia came to mean someone 'selfish' or 'spoiled'.