fong kong, adjectival phrase and & noun phrase

Forms:
fongkong
Origin:
Probably from Hong Kong, perceived to be a source of inferior quality products.
slang, derogatory, offensive
Note:
The term came to prominence in 1998 when the South African kwaito band Hunger Boyz released their album Fong Kong with a title track of the same name. The lyrics, marked by rapid code-switching and not representating typical South African English usage, reflect both the adjectival usage (‘fong kong, from Hong Kong’, with reference to the purchase of inexpensive goods from streetside vendors) and the noun form, derogatorially (‘the fong kongs, smelly like fung yong [egg foo yong]’). The term is offensive due to its implicit xenophobia; written corpus evidence of ‘fong kong’, however, rarely refers specifically to Chinese or Asian people.
A. adjectival phrase ‘Fake’: a. Used typically of manufactured goods to indicate cheap, counterfeit, or low-quality products, often fake branded items imported from East Asia. b. An insulting term for a person deemed inauthentic or fraudulent.
2000 Kutlwano[O]ne hardly finds anything to buy from their shops. Even if you do find something, it is either some funny brand (fong kong) or is too expensive.
2002 K. Magogodi in Mail & Guardian 1 Nov. 6Tourism for me has always been about places like Sun City, with its valley of fongkong waves...
2014 everymuslim.co.za (DSAE Corpus)Soon the real ANC will emerge and all the fong kong activi[s]ts will be put in their rightful place.
2016 sowetanlive.co.za (DSAE Corpus)A lot of unemployment is caused by cheap Chinese goods: useless cellphone chargers, socks, fake kettles and fong kong jeans and shoes and screw drivers that only work once and you throw away.
2022 N. Masipa in snl24.com 4 Apr.PASOP! Fong kong prophets’ big scam.
B. noun phrase A manufactured product that is counterfeit or of inferior quality, or a person deemed to be fake or inauthentic.
2011 themediaonline.co.za (DSAE Corpus)Life has taught me that Mzansi’s Celebville is home to fakes, fraudsters, cheap shots, fongkongs, wannabes, party junkies and downright notorious bimbos.
2014 ramsaydigitalstaging.co.za (DSAE Corpus)Whilst I have personally had absolutely NO problems with mine at all, when I compare it to the noise of other makes, mine is definately a “fong kong”.
Used typically of manufactured goods to indicate cheap, counterfeit, or low-quality products, often fake branded items imported from East Asia.
An insulting term for a person deemed inauthentic or fraudulent.
A manufactured product that is counterfeit or of inferior quality, or a person deemed to be fake or inauthentic.
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20002022
folk, nounn.fontein, nounn.
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