Cantonese Proverbs and Sayings
GPTKB entity
Statements (25)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| gptkbp:instanceOf |
collection of proverbs
|
| gptkbp:culturalOrigin |
gptkb:Cantonese_people
|
| gptkbp:example |
牛唔飲水唔撳得牛頭低 (ngau4 m4 jam2 seoi2 m4 gam6 dak1 ngau4 tau4 dai1) – 'If a cow doesn't want to drink, you can't force its head down' (meaning: you can't force someone to do something)
一竹篙打一船人 (yat juk gou da yat syun yan) – 'Hitting everyone in the boat with one pole' (meaning: generalizing) 人怕出名豬怕壯 (jan4 pa3 ceot1 meng2 zyu1 pa3 zong3) – 'People fear fame, pigs fear getting fat' (meaning: fame brings trouble) 唔怕生壞命，最怕改壞名 (m4 pa3 saang1 waai6 meng6, zeoi3 pa3 goi2 waai6 meng2) – 'Not afraid of being born with a bad fate, most afraid of being given a bad name' (meaning: reputation matters) 樹大有枯枝 (syu6 daai6 jau5 fu1 zi1) – 'A big tree has dead branches' (meaning: every family has its problems) 食鹽多過你食米 (sik yim do gwo nei sik mai) – 'Eaten more salt than you have eaten rice' (meaning: more experienced) 冇牙老虎 (mou5 ngaa4 lou5 fu2) – 'A toothless tiger' (meaning: someone who looks fierce but is harmless) 雞犬不寧 (gai hyun bat ning) – 'Even chickens and dogs are not left in peace' (meaning: chaos everywhere) 馬死落地行 (ma sei lok dei hang) – 'When the horse dies, get off and walk' (meaning: adapt to circumstances) 有錢使得鬼推磨 (yau chin si dak gwai teui mo) – 'With money, you can make the devil push the millstone' (meaning: money makes things happen) |
| https://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#label |
Cantonese Proverbs and Sayings
|
| gptkbp:language |
gptkb:Cantonese
|
| gptkbp:region |
gptkb:Hong_Kong
gptkb:Macau gptkb:Guangdong |
| gptkbp:relatedTo |
gptkb:Cantonese_culture
gptkb:Cantonese_language Chinese Proverbs |
| gptkbp:usedFor |
teaching morals
conveying wisdom expressing humor |
| gptkbp:bfsParent |
gptkb:Sidney_Lau's_Cantonese_textbooks
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| gptkbp:bfsLayer |
7
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