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.
| Idioms, expressions | Hokkien pronunciation | Literal translation | Meaning |
| 我的心肝 | gua eh sim knua | my heart and liver | to express deep family affection |
| 碎糊糊 | tsui ko ko | broken into bits and pieces | broken beyond repair |
| 變無蚊 | pni bo bang | unable to create mosquitoes | coming up with nothing |
| 後生家 | hao snee ke | young generation | the next generation males |
| 差啊天和地 | tsa-ah t’ni kap twe | difference is as wide as heaven and earth | comparing apples and oranges; no comparison |