T he RTHK website confirmed that I had misheard the DJ. The name of the program was "What the funk", which sounds very much like "what the f..k". I think the reason why I thought he said "what the f..k" is because so many Hong Kong people now say it. The slang word funk has several meanings but in this case it means a type of music made popular by African-American musicians. When you choke on food, it means food gets stuck in your throat, making it hard to breathe. You can use the expression "almost choked on my breakfast (lunch, dinner)" when something so astonishing happens while you are eating that you almost choke on your food.
A slip of the tongue means making an unintentional mistake when speaking. Slips of the tongue are common even for fluent English speakers. I have made them many times. My good friend Robert Chow Yung, who co-founded the group Silent Majority for Hong Kong to oppose the Occupy Central movement, made a slip of the tongue while on my TV show recently. He said occupying Central in a civil disobedience protest could bring apathy to Hong Kong. He quickly realized he should have said "anarchy" instead of "apathy" and corrected himself. The two have very different meanings. Apathy means a lack of interest for important issues. Anarchy means political disorder or even violence in the streets because there is no government.
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上星期日我邊吃早餐邊聽香港電台英文頻道時，差點給噎住了（almost choked on my breakfast）。新聞剛報道完畢，我聽到主持說下一個節目（program）是"What the f..k"。我很震驚（stunned）。隸屬於政府的香港電台，怎麼可能會有個名為"What the f..k"的節目（program，英式串法為programme）﹖我以為那主持人只是在開林慧思老師的玩笑（poking fun），她早前以粗俗習語（foul expression）"what the f..k"（「他媽的甚麼回事」）指罵警察，令這句粗口在香港紅起來。我馬上到港台網頁翻查，看看是我聽錯了（misheard）抑或是主持一時口快說錯話（slip of the tongue）。
香港電台網站證實是我聽錯（misheard）節目主持的話。節目的名稱是"What the funk"，與"what the f..k"的發音很相似。我以為他說了"what the f..k"，大概是因為現在許多香港人都在說這句話。俚語funk有幾個意思，但在這裏則是指由非裔美籍音樂人引入而盛行的一種音樂類型。當你choke on food，即是說有食物噎在喉嚨裏，令你難以呼吸。若你進食時，一些很驚人的事情發生令你差點哽噎（choke），你可以用習語"almost choked on my breakfast (lunch, dinner)"。
A slip of the tongue即是無意中說錯話。即使是英語流利的人，slips of the tongue亦很普遍，我也曾多次說錯話。反對佔中的「幫港出聲」發起人之一、我的好友周融，最近上我電視節目時也一時口快說錯了話（slip of the tongue）。他說公民抗命式的佔領中環會給香港帶來apathy。他很快就知道他要說的是anarchy而非apathy，並即時更正。兩個字有着相異的意思。Apathy是對重要事情漠不關心，anarchy則是無政府狀態，引致政治動盪甚至街頭暴力。
mickchug@gmail.com
中譯:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
Source: http://news.hkheadline.com/dailynews/headline_news_detail_columnist.asp?id=252297§ion_name=wtt&kw=126