> I know of several similar idioms in other languages. I don't understand why the article makes it our to be unique.
“Add oil” is such a common phrase for encouragement among Cantonese speakers that it featured prominently in the last two major Hong Kong protests in 2014 and 2019.
As mentioned in the Wikipedia article, the Lennon Wall (protest message board) was called “add oil machine” in 2014. And the “Hong Kong Add Oil” ambigram was extremely popular among protesters in 2019, and is now banned under the National Security Law [1].
I doubt “add oil” in other languages enjoys such a unique cultural status as in Cantonese.
> his first protest-related tattoo, which is an ambigram combining the Chinese characters for “Hong Kong” and “Add oil,” was intended as proof he was not an undercover police officer.
I know of several similar idioms in other languages. I don't understand why the article makes it our to be unique.