Is it a Cantonese idiom, a proverb or a translation?

Merriam-Webster’s idiom definition centres on a meaning or use that cannot simply be assembled from the separate elements. Its proverb definition concerns a brief established saying expressing a general thought. These are useful working distinctions, although labels can overlap and dictionaries do not all organise expressions in the same way.

Ask what the line does in this context before assigning it a category. Is it naming a person metaphorically, giving general advice, or plainly describing an event? Then ask what shows that other speakers use it that way. A smooth translation alone does not establish conventional status or an ancient origin.

Words.hk records both the literal light-bulb sense of 電燈膽 and the figurative sense of an unwanted third person accompanying a couple. That entry supplies evidence beyond a single translated clip. In 我做咗電燈膽喇, the surrounding relationship context selects the figurative reading.

This is a colloquial metaphor with a documented conventional meaning. It is not a piece of general advice about how everyone should behave, and its three characters do not make it less established. You can learn the expression’s social meaning without inventing a historical story for it.

人工智能 has four Chinese characters, and Words.hk identifies it as the term for artificial intelligence. It is a technical noun, not an ancient proverb. This simple counterexample shows why counting characters cannot determine the category or history of a phrase.

The longer recorded response 呢啲係人生必經階段 explains an experience as a necessary life stage. Its general-sounding message may resemble advice, but the recording alone does not establish that the exact sentence is a traditional proverb. Here it is best understood as the series’ plain-language rendering of an idea.

For an expression you want to learn, keep a small note with the wording, reading, contextual meaning and a dictionary or attributable usage source. If you have evidence only for its meaning, do not add a date, place of origin or claim that everyone uses it. Those would require different evidence.

For a proverb candidate, look for attested repeated use as a saying and a documented classification, rather than inventing an origin from a vivid picture. For a new translation, label it as a translation. This lets you appreciate an effective line while keeping the question of traditional status open.