Luke
(1998) suggested that English words are mixed in informal conversation because the
Cantonese counterparts sound too formal or literary in style. For instance, the word form is
often mixed in Cantonese instead of themore formal counterpart biu2-gaak3/ (‘form’)
(Luke 1998: 154). These instances are called “expedience code-mixing”,which refers to the
use of English expressions in informal talk among Cantonese speakers out of convenience
(i.e. expedience). When the code-switched English expressions do have counterparts in
vernacular Cantonese, Luke (1998) suggests that code-switching or code-mixing is more
deliberate, motivated by the speaker’s intention to convey a “Western” orientation.