Hokkien, on the tongues of Tsinoys, has grown and evolved, taking on a life of its own. Sometimes words simply fail us. With some creativity, Tsinoys have strung together words to form colorful phrases that simply hit the bull’s eye. Here are some expressions unique to Hokkien as favored by Tsinoys.
| 唐山婆 | téng suan po | Tang Mountain lady | Female who came from Tang Mountain (China) |
| 牛賭性 | gu tu sing | bull like manner | stubborn, hot tempered |
| 窮厝無窮路 | king tsu bo king lo | poor at home but not poor on the road | impoverished at home but well-off when going out |
| 臭頭厚藥 | tsao t’au kao yo | infections on the head requires plenty of medicine | plenty of medicine to cure an illness |
| 要哭要啼 | beh k’ao beh t’i | keeps on crying and wailing | pertaining to people who is demanding and complaining a lot |
