Of Chinese words and colloquialism.

I refer to my previous post where I mentioned brushing up on my cantonese. I thought I was doing pretty well, until I realized there was a whole other level to the language:

姐妹情深 bree says (10:02 PM):
alot of work?
weiwen says (10:08 PM):
yeah
kinda
姐妹情深 bree says (10:08 PM):
ok.. 加油！！
weiwen says (10:17 PM):
係！
姐妹情深 bree says (10:17 PM):
huh?
weiwen says (10:18 PM):
haha
points if you understand what that means
姐妹情深 bree says (10:18 PM):
i had to use a babelfish translator
and it says 'department'
and it totally doesnt make sense
weiwen says (10:19 PM):
haha
of course
wouldn't that be an insult to ur intelligence if it was that simple?
姐妹情深 bree says (10:20 PM):
oh
issit like a pun
or some hongkie joke
weiwen says (10:22 PM):
not a joke
not a pun
姐妹情深 bree says (10:22 PM):
oh
weiwen says (10:22 PM):
it actually means something
姐妹情深 bree says (10:22 PM):
but not the direct translation
weiwen says (10:27 PM):
yup
姐妹情深 bree says (10:32 PM):
The written word for "to be" is 是 in spoken Mandarin (pronounced shì) but is 係 in spoken Cantonese (pronounced hai6). In formal written Chinese, only 是 is used. However, in Hong Kong, 係 is sometimes used in colloquial written Cantonese.
........colloquial written cantonese.
u are disgusting.
weiwen says (10:51 PM):
heh so clever
see
you learn something new
姐妹情深 bree says (10:52 PM):
hehe yea
i feel enlightened already


Moral of the story: I'm SO gonna die in Hong Kong.
*p/s: I'm really impressed with my ability to siphon off knowledge from the net.