| Order |
Pronunciation |
Expression |
Explanations |
When pronounced in Mandarin & Mandarin counterpart(s) |
| 196 |
qio4 ha6ha1 |
笑 哈哈 |
Laugh with resounding laughter. Having the inclination of laughing out loud. |
[xiao4 ha1ha1] “哈哈 大笑”， “有 哈哈大笑 習慣 的。” |
| 10 |
go6 bu1 li6jiong1 |
故 不 離章 |
Let us get back to our subject (after beating around the bush all this time.) |
[gu4 bu4 li2zhang1] “言 歸 正傳。” |
| 4 |
he1jiu4 dim5 ong4de4 |
好酒 沉 甕底 |
Liquor of the best quality accumulates at the bottom of the urn. The best acts are reserved at the end of the show. |
[hao3jiu3 chen2 wong4di3] “好戲 在 後頭。” |
| 33 |
xio1kuao1 dua6 dai6ji6 |
小些 大 代志 |
Little big matter. Something to take serious but not too serious. |
[xiao3xie1 da4 dai4zhi4] “沉著 應付，不用 緊張。” |
| 44 |
jia6 kun4 tao5ge1 |
吃 睏 頭家 |
Lodge and board supplied by the boss. According to the Taiwanese traditions of apprenticeship, it is made clear from the beginning how the apprentice's lodge and board will be supplied. When the boss is to supply both lodge and board, they will say "jia6 kun4 tao5ge1 [吃 睏 頭家] (eat and sleep on the boss.)" However, nowadays nobody will resist the temptation to twist the expression and say to his friends that his conditions are to "jia6 tao5ge1, kun4 tao5ge5niu3, [吃 頭家， 睏 頭家 娘] (board with the boss and lodge with the boss's wife,)" which is extremely rude. Therefore, I will recommend that the apprentice show respect to both the boss and the boss's wife by using the proper usage, which is also one of the reasons why I compile this collection of Taiwanese Common Expressions. Without a language tool like mine, there is no telling how the language will be distorted to the point where there is no return but complete loss and ignorance. |
[chi1 kun4 tou2jia1] |
| 1 |
ce85me3 ge2a4 do1dio6 tang3 |
瞎明 鷄子 啄到 蟲 |
Lucky. A blind chicken pecks upon a worm. Saying that someone is really lucky. |
[xia1ming2 ji1zi0 zhuo2dao4 chong2] “瞎貓 捉到 死 老鼠。” |
| 82 |
dua6bho4 se4yi3 |
大婦 小姨 |
Main wife and the lesser wives. In the old times, a man was allowed to marry several wives, and that was the composition of the marriages. |
[da4fu4 xiao3yi2] “三妻 四妾。” |
| 94 |
dua6sia85 se4sia81 |
大聲 小聲 |
Make a lot of noise on purpose, usually as a prelude of picking a fight. |
[da4sheng1 xiao3sheng1] “故意 喧囂，通常 是 挑釁 的 第一個 動作。” |
| 60 |
gun5tao3 shai5hu5 |
拳頭 師父 |
Martial art master. |
[quan2tou2 shi1fu4] “師父”，”武術 老師。” |
| 167 |
shai5gong1 |
師公 |
Master that can collect and expel evil spirits and perform other similar tasks. |
[shi1gong1] “陰陽 先生。” |