Crocodile tears

The̍h kiuⁿ-bú, chhit ba̍k-sái — ké khàu
Literally: “Take a piece of ginger and rub one’s eyes (with it): false tears”
This is another example of a kek-kut-ōe.

Complete defeat

Bí-kok se-chong — tōa su
Literally: (It’s like) an American suit: a big set (of clothes) [tōa su], which rhymes with “a big defeat” [tōa su].
These are called kek-kut-ōe or giat8-khiat-ōe (歇後語 in Mandarin), which my dictionary calls “two-part allegorical sayings.” Very common in Chinese languages.  I’ve always thought of them as Fat Albert jokes. As in, “Rudy, [...]