China is one of Apple`s biggest markets, but the translations for its new slogan differ drastically across mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
While mainlanders and Taiwanese people predominantly speak Mandarin, Hong Kong dwellers typically converse in Cantonese, which is why the comical translation only affects them.
Many Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong took to social media to mock the x-rated gaffe, reports Quartz.
`The slogan "7, is here" in China is the best. They got so many "7"s,` said one Facebook user.
‘Why didn’t people say anything during the launch of Windows 7?’ queried another.
‘How about iPhone 7 Plus? More "7"s?` suggested another user on the social network.
The two spoken dialects are vastly different, and also make use of different characters.
While the translated slogans are inoffensive in Mandarin, in Cantonese, `seven` is pronounced as `chat` which also happens to be a slang word for penis.
The Cantonese language uses subtly different tones to differentiate between words.
The Cantonese pronunciation of ‘seven’(七) uses a `cat1` tone, according to the Chinese Character Database of Chinese University of Hong Kong.
The number `seven` is a common euphemism for `penis`, which only differs slightly in the tone.
The number ‘seven’ is widely used in local politics to make fun of politicians.
A common example is the Hong Kong’s Chief Executive CY Leung who is nicknamed as ‘689’ after being elected to his post with just 689 votes from an election committee - regrettably missing a ‘seven’.
Earlier this year, Korean technoloy firm Samsung faced similar mockery in Hong Kong following the launch of its Galaxy Note 7.
Cantonese speakers joked that `Note 7` sounds like `a stick of penis`, reports Quartz.
Apple committed a gaffe earlier in the week when it accidentally tweeted details of the new iPhone 7 before the handset was officially announced.
