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 |
| 扛皇帝借膽 | kang hong-te tsiô tna | borrow gall bladder from the emperor | courageous enough to perform a task with very unusual nerve |
| 鴨母腳 | âh-boo k’a | female duck’s feet | describing one who waddles like a duck |
| 顛顛倒倒 | t’ian t’ian t’o t’o | silly | someone acting out of place or frivolously |
| 腳來手來 | k’a lai tsiu lai | foot comes, hand comes | a touchy-feely person |
| 無遮無截 | bo tsnia bo tsa | no covering, no blocking | nothing to hide |