The iPhone 7 slogan means something really naughty in Hong Kong

[Jámєs.™▲]

Apple launched its new iPhone 7 this week.

This time, the company is using the slogan "This is 7".

It's quite dull. But over in Hong Kong, where Cantonese is spoken, the phrase a little more interesting.

Translating English into the languages spoken in China is difficult, and "This is 7" varies a lot.

In Mandarin, which is spoken in most of the country, Apple's new slogan reads as "7, is here".

In Taiwan, the phrase loosely translates to "Exactly is 7".

In Cantonese, spoken in Hong Kong, it's "This, is exactly 7".

AppleApple iPhone 7Apple iPhone 7
None of the translated slogans sound very good, but to us, none of them sound rude, do they?

Well, the US site Quartz explains that in Hong Kong, “seven,” or "柒", is pronounced "chat", and is also slang for “penis.”

"This is penis". Well played, Apple.

 

Fortunately, chat isn't very offensive. It's used for the purposes of banter – friends might say "ha, you are so seven" if they see their friend say something stupid on Tinder, for example.

People in Hong Kong are already laughing at Apple's new iPhone slogan.

On one Facebook post about the Chinese translations, one local mocked: “Without a 3.5mm earbud jack, this is exactly penis".