Good fences make good neighbors

Keh-piah chhin-ke, lé-sò͘ goân-chāi

Literally: (Even if) your next-door neighbors are close relatives, you should still maintain politeness.

Some interesting sayings about marriage

These are a series of rhymes related to marriage. I’ve never heard anyone recite the following list before, but I found them listed in a book of Taiwanese sayings from Maryknoll, and I thought they were interesting:

Kè-tio̍h be-chhài ang, saⁿ tǹg m̄ sī chhài, chiū sī chhang.

Kè-tio̍h chiú-kúi ang, chiú-chùi sio-phah giú thâu-chang.

Kè-tio̍h choh-chhân ang, bô-êng thang hó sé thâu chang.

Kè-tio̍h chò-tê ang, cha̍p mê, káu mê khang.

Kè-tio̍h é-á ang, sio-hiuⁿ, tiám-hoé chhiáⁿ pa̍t-lâng.

Kè-tio̍h chhàu-thâu-á ang, liàm mī-phoē lâi that phīⁿ-khang.

Kè-tio̍h chheⁿ-mê ang, se-thâu, boah-hún bô chhái-kang.

Kè-tio̍h hong-liû ang, sam-tin hái-bī iā chia̍h bē phang.

Kè-tio̍h ian-tâu-á, saⁿ ji̍t bô chia̍h mā khin-sang.

Kè-tio̍h pīn-toāⁿ ang, khiām-tn̂g neh-tō͘ iā bô-chhái kang.

Kè-tio̍h poah-kiáu ang, chi̍t chhiú koāⁿ bah, chi̍t chhiú koāⁿ chhang.

Kè-tio̍h thâi-ti-á ang, bô iû chú-chhài mā ē phang.

Kè-tio̍h tha̍k-chheh ang, chhn̂g-thâu khùn, chhn̂g-boé phang.

Kè-tio̍h thó-hái ang, saⁿ-keⁿ poàⁿ-mê la̍h chàu-khang.

Kè-tio̍h ún-ku ang, khùn tio̍h mî-phoā ē kek khang.

Reminds me a little of the English rhyme my mother used to recite about children born on different days of the week:

Monday’s child is fair of face,

Tuesday’s child is full of grace,

Wednesday’s child is full of woe,

Thursday’s child has far to go;

Friday’s child is loving and giving,

Saturday’s child works hard for a living;

But the child that is born on the Sabbath day,

Is bonny and blithe and good and gay.

Low-income households

Kē siu-ji̍p hō͘

—————-

Sui-jiân kē siu-ji̍p hō͘ jîn-sò͘ chē, m̄-kú la̍p-soè ê pí-lē khah kē, he̍k-chiá sī bô la̍p soè, in iā sú-iōng toā-pō͘-hūn chèng-hú siā-hoē hok-lī ī-soan.

Although there are many low-income households, they pay a relatively lower amount of taxes, or don’t pay any taxes at all, and also use up the bulk of the government’s social welfare budget.

Declining birthrate

Chió-chú-hoà

Literally: Few-child-ization

—————–

Siū chió-chú-hoà ê chhiong-kek, Tāi-pak-chhī kok-sió sin-seng ji̍p-ha̍k jîn-kháu múi chi̍t nî hā-kàng.

Hit by the declining birthrate, the total number of new students entering elementary school is falling every year.

Old folks’ home; old-age home

Lāu-lâng-īⁿ

———

Chū i tiòng-hong lâi toà lāu-lâng-īⁿ í-āu, in chhù-ni̍h ê lâng lóng m̄ bat lâi khoàⁿ i.

From the time he had the stroke and moved to the old-age home, his family has never come to see him.

Time (spent doing something)

Sî-sò͘

-

Lâm-Hân chèng-hú kè-oē ún-chún ka-tiúⁿ hān-chè kiáⁿ-jî phah tiān-tōng-á ê sî-sò͘.

The South Korean government plans to allow parents and guardians to restrict their children’s time playing video games.

Sense of responsibility toward one’s family

Ka-têng chek-jīm

I chin bô ka-têng chek-jīm, àm-sî nā m̄ sī chhut khì lim chiú, tō sī chhut khì poa̍h-kiáu.

He has absolutely no concern for his family: at night, if he’s not out drinking, he’s out gambling.

Marry a girl after getting her pregnant

Seng chiūⁿ chhia, āu pó͘ phiò

Seng chiūⁿ chhia, āu bé phiò

Literally: “First get on the train, and then add to / buy your ticket”

Manage household; take care of the money (at home)

Hoāⁿ chîⁿ

Chîⁿ lóng goán thài-thài the hoāⁿ, goá thàn ê chîⁿ mā lóng ài kau hō͘ i.

My wife manages the money at our house; I even have to give the money I make over to her.

There are three ways to be unfilial…

…and the worst is to not have a son.

Put-hàu iú sam, bû hiō ûi tāi

Literally: “Not being filial are three, (and) not having an heir is the big (one)”

———–

I’ve had different people list the three ways to be unfilial before, but they are usually listed as:

Tē-it put-hàu sī bô hiō-sû = not having an heir/son

Tē-jī sī òan pē-bú = not honoring/disrespecting your mother and father

Tē-saⁿ sī khiàm chè òan chè-chú = not honoring your debts (“owing a debt [but] hating the creditor”)