Tua33 Phau3 (Big Fire-Cracker)

Tua33 Phau3 is a Penang Hokkien rhyme often recited by scouts in Penang. It literally means big fire cracker, but is also slang to mean a person who talks big or boasts. The rhyme below can be taken at face value, to mean that various fire crackers make different noise, but can also mean that when a big boaster and a smaller boaster meet, the result is a barrage of boasting. Tua33 phau3 phong3!
Se1 phau3 phiang3!
Tua33 phau3 se1 phau33 phing3 phong3 phiang3!

Big fire-cracker goes, "Phong!"
Small fire-cracker goes, "Phiang!"
Big and small fire-crackers go, "Phing Phong Phiang!"

Vocabulary

Songs about Penang

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