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.
| 毋精神 | mm tsing sin | not on the right senses | to scold someone who doesn’t learn from past mistakes |
| 黑陰天 | oh im teen | dark and cloudy sky | to describe bad and cloudy weather |
| 大頭大面 | tua t’ao tua bin | big head and big face | to describe someone not caring for his behavior |
| 少年袂曉想, 吃老毋成樣 | siao dian bue hiao siun, tsia lao mm sing ewn | don’t know how to think when young, not accomplished when old | one has to strive while still young or nothing will become of him when he grows old |
| 會吃才會大，會消才會化 | eh tsia tsa eh tua, eh siao tsa eh hua | should eat to grow big, should digest to absorb | need information to get results, need to digest to comprehend |
