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 |
| 無教示 | bo ka si | not properly taught | to describe bad-mannered people |
| 兇死死 | hiong si si | ugly to death | utterly, extremely ugly |
| 毋甘願 | um kam guan | not willingly | unwilling to wield something |
| 燒酒仙 | sio-tsiu sian | alcoholic immortal | drunkard |
| 骯髒嘴 | am tsam tsui | dirty mouth | bad-mouthing |