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.
|
圓頭短嘴 |
en t’ao te tsui | round head short mouth |
to describe an ugly boy or man |
|
生銹面 |
sin san bin | rusty face |
referring to very unfamiliar faces, stranger |
|
雙頭無一咬 |
sang t‘ao bo tsi ngao | both head but not one is caught |
doing two tasks or works at the same time but unable to achieve the goals or accomplish something |
|
真濶氣 |
tsin k’ua k’i | extravagant |
very generous |
|
吃飽巧好餓死 |
tsia pa k’a ho yao si | better eat full than starve to death |
better to have at least something than nothing at all |