'Chau Tut' (pronounced Chow Toot) is a remarkable word. It's an adverb. A word that is related to how we perform an action. It's also used to describe a manner, or state of being. Like the words; strong, gentle or responsible. Being Chau Tut however, is the total opposite of all those examples. It describes a mental state of insanity, a silliness, a state of confusion. A person who is Chau Tut is somebody who has lost the plot or is acting from a premise of having one screw loose. Or is driving a car with one less wheel or missing a piston.
Essentially, the word has Cantonese origins. 'Chau' is to run. An action. 'Tut' however, has no origins anywhere (to my best linguistic understanding). And I do speak 3 languages. As far as I know, there is no 'Tut' (meaning, nor word) that exists in any language or dialect. But it does sound silly. So to Chau Tut means to Run Amok. Its uses goes something like this - 'That fella chau tut lah'. Or, 'That is so chau tut'. It expresses a mental state or action that is so impossibly off the scale that it is not to be taken seriously, whatsoever. By saying this or that is Chau Tut, signifies that the action is totally irresponsible, ridiculous and silly. The chances are, whatever it is hasn't been given any coherent thought to, prior to the action. Totally missing the point and the focus. How do people Chau Tut, and why? I think the word cropped up about 10 or more years ago. When one would be in an intoxicated state or messed up from hard drugs - It's one of those colloquial slangs. That on one hand although it's a terrible state to be in, but being able to say that oneself is Chau Tut also means that an awareness is at play. That one is at least aware enough that one is acting from a nonsensical point of reference. It can be a self regulating mantra. It serves as a warning that someone (or oneself) is off the rails. In BM it can be described as : 'Sudah masuk air' (translated to 'Water has entered the system'.) There's a sense of nonsense about the act or individual, or a sense of stupidity - depending on how severe the chau tut-ness is. The moral of the story is this : Don't chau tut, okay?
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