First published in Tulay, Fortnightly Chinese-Filipino Digest 28, no. 13 (December 8-21, 2015): 14.
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 |
| 半屎桶 | puan sai t’ang | half a bowl of stool | someone who is inefficient |
| 七說八說 | tsit se pue se | talking nonsense | telling something that is untrue |
| 糊里糊塗 | ho di ho to | careless | to do things carelessly |
| 吃頭路 | tsia t’ao lo | employed | working as an employee |
| 金腳骨 | tsin ka kut | golden feet | someone who does not like to walk |
