Add oil

"Add oil" is a Hong Kong English expression used as an encouragement and support to a person.

It was used to imply stepping harder on the gas pedal, giving the car more speed and power to accelerate.

[6] The romanized Cantonese ga yau and literal translation phrase add oil was commonly used since then due to the large number of bilingual Hongkongers.

The entry recognises it as Hong Kong English, and verified that the usage of the phrase can be traced back to 1964.

Local artists set up the "add oil machine",[9] a wall along Gloucester Road.