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 |
| 迎新去舊 | ying sin k’i ku |
welcome new, let go of old | meet the new and discard the old |
| 大排檔 | tua pai tong | big row of outlets | assembly of food stalls/food court |
| 大乳吭小囝 | tua-ding hang sio-kna | big breast threatening small child | old timer trying to harass a novice |
| 新雞仔 | sin kue-ya | new chick | a newbie |
| 算自己的賬 | seng kai-ki eh siao | calculate one’s own accounts | describing a selfish person with no regard for others |
