Free Trade Agreement (FTA)

Chū-iû bō∙-e̍k8 hia̍p8-tēng

———————–

ū chin chē lâng chú-tiuⁿ chhiam-tīaⁿ Bí-Tâi chū-iû bō∙-e̍k hia̍p-tēng

Many people favor signing a US-Taiwan FTA.

Checkbook

Speaking of money, here’s one you might not find in the dictionary:

Chi-phiò-pún

Checkbook

Khui chi-phiò

Write a check

Broke; be in a tough situation financially

Cháu saⁿ-tiám-pòaⁿ

This literally means “to do the 3:30 run” or “run 3:30″, in reference to banks’ traditional closing time.  I guess the idea is you’d have to run to the bank before it closed to settle up, make sure your checks didn’t bounce, etc., and by extension, you must be in pretty tight money straits.

A note about yesterday’s cartoon

In the second frame, the father says:

Chiūⁿ-kiā ū-kàu thiám-thâu… (Going uphill is really tiring)

This sounds a little strange to me (and most people I’ve asked).  It’s much more common to hear peh for “go up” instead of chiūⁿ, as in peh soaⁿ (go up/climb the mountain) or peh kiā /peh khiā (go uphill).

Chiūⁿ, on the other hand, turns up more in expressions like “get on the bus/get in the car” (chiūⁿ chhia) or “get up on stage” (chiūⁿ-tâi).

Not appreciate what you have

Chia̍h8 bí, m̄7 chai-iáⁿ bí-kè

Literally: Eat rice, but not know how much it cost.

Corrupt official

Chia̍h8-chîⁿ koaⁿ

(“an official who eats money”)

For one’s whole life

Chi̍t8 sè-lâng, chi̍t8 sì-lâng

————————–

Chhōa tio̍h8 pháiⁿ bó͘, chi̍t8 sè-lâng kan-khó͘.

If you marry a bad wife, your whole life will be miserable.

A stagnant culture, moribund culture

Chìuⁿ-kng bûn-hòa

[Literally: a soy-sauce-urn culture]

Oh, he always has time to eat

I hit-ê lâng chia̍̍h8 pá êng-êng.

The implied criticism is that someone never seems to have the time to take care of important things, but always has time to stuff his face.

Completely automated

Chôan-chū-tōng-hùa ê