Bei Wu Long in Cantonese means to make a big mistake.
- What are the Chinese characters for this?
- Is there a story for this?
3 Answers
I'm pretty sure that the " Bei Wu Long" is "摆乌龙". "乌龙" in Cantonese sounds like "own goal" in English. You know own goal is a big mistake, right？
It is a long story. According to this website, is is original from a folk tale in Canton. Once upon a time, there was a drought. People prayed to the "青龙"(Green Dragon) because it can bring rain. However, at last it was the "乌龙"( Black Dragon) who bring disaster that answered to them. The situation became worse.
Then in 1960s, journalist in Hongkong use "乌龙" to describe the "own goal" in soccer game because the "乌龙" sound similar in Cantonese to "own goal".
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Wow! Thanks you! What a great answer. My dad knew it had something to do with a Black Dragon, but didn't know the story. Great answer!– user3414Oct 24, 2013 at 19:58
The Chinese character is : 摆乌龙
It originatesfrom a folk legend in Guangdong China.
There was a heavy drought in Guangdong, people prayed the Thanh Long to give people rain, but Wu long came instead of Thanh Long , and it brought big disaster to people.
So 摆乌龙 means to make a big mistake.
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This answer is fine but it duplicates an existing answer without additional detail. If other answers are adequate, please consider up-voting them. Nov 1, 2013 at 2:32
擺烏龍 baai2 wu1 lung4*2
http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/words/38479/
There's no explanation for it (except that it does state "accidentally score against one's own team").
