| Order |
Pronunciation |
Expression |
Explanations |
When pronounced in Mandarin & Mandarin counterpart(s) |
| 20 |
wei6dang5 wei6sai1 |
話東 話西 |
Talk east, talk west. To have a random and wandering talk, usually casually. |
[hua4dong1 hua4xi1] “話東 話西”， “説長 説短”，“聊天 說地。” |
| 9 |
gu1 qio4 bi5 bhe5bhui4 |
龜 笑 鱉 無尾 |
Tapestry-shell turtle laughs at the smooth-shell turtle that it has no tail. When A laughs at B for the trait that A himself possesses, C as a witness will laugh at A to mean "half pound of one and eight ounces of the other." Or B can also fire back at A by using this expression. |
[gui1 xiao4 bie1 wu2wei3] “五十步 笑 百步。” |
| 174 |
o2a4, han5ji3 |
芋子，甘薯 |
Taro, sweet potato. A person who came from other provinces than Taiwan is referred to as a taro; a Taiwanese is referred to as a sweet potato. |
[yu2zi0, fan1shu3] “芋頭，番薯。” “外省人，本省人。” |
| 74 |
ghue6niu3 |
月娘 |
The Moon Lady. The moon. |
[yue4niang1] “月亮。” |
| 136 |
ri6tao3 |
日頭 |
The sun. |
[ri4tou2] “太陽。” |
| 163 |
wu6 hua1do5 |
有 法度 |
There is a way. |
[you3 fa3du4] “有 辦法。” |
| 73 |
sa85gang5 gho6gang1 |
三工 五工 |
Three days or five days. Always used to refer to skill or a situation that has to be developed over a long period of time, such as several years -- instead of "three days or five days." |
[san1gong1 wu3gong1] “那裏 是 三五天 就 成 得了 的！” |
| 182 |
jin5a1 bhe6e6 kua86 ji6! |
真子 不會 看 之！ |
Too ridiculous to watch! |
[zhen1zi0 bu2hui4 kan4 zhi1] “真的 不 像樣！” “真的 不能 看！” “真的 糟糕！” |
| 76 |
qin4cai4 |
剩菜 |
Treat as leftover stuff. To not be picky. To let it be as much as possible. To finish up with as little effort as possible. To horse-horse-tiger-tiger it. |
[sheng4cai4] “隨便”，“馬馬虎虎。” |
| 5 |
qi4 kua84mai2 ya4 |
試 看覓 子 |
Try and see what happens. Also: let us eat and see what happens. Let us put it on and see what happens. Etc. You can see how frequently expressions based on this pattern are being used. |
[shi4 kan4mi4zi0] “試試 看。” |