Like a frog in a well

Kó͘-chéⁿ chúi-ke, m̄ chai thiⁿ lōa tōa

Literally: a frog in a well doesn’t know how big the sky is.

(i.e., “ignorant of the wider world or bigger picture.”)

Anyone; any Tom, Dick, or Harry

A-niau a-káu

Hiān-chú-sî a-niau a-káu lóng khó ē tio̍h tāi-ha̍k.

These days, anybody can get into college.

Just for show; just a pretty face

Hó-khòaⁿ-thâu

Bîn-chìn-tóng ê hāu-pó͘ chí put kò sī hó-khòaⁿ-thâu, bô chèng-tī ê keng-giām.

The DPP’s candidate is just a pretty face, and has no political experience.

My old lady

Gún tau hit-ê chú-pn̄g7 — ê

Literally: the one that makes the food at my house

Shady, sketchy (people)

Put-sam-put-sù (ê)

Example:

Kau-pôe tio̍h8 chi̍t8-kóa put-sam-put-sù ê pêng-iú

Hang out with a bad crowd; associate with some shady characters

Who wrote it for you?

Lú chok-ka sin chheh hoat-piáu hōe.

Chi̍t ê lú tiān-iáⁿ bêng-chheⁿ kiâⁿ óa khì kā kóng: “Lí ê chok-phín siá liáu chiok chán, chúi-chún chiok kôan! Tio̍h –lah,” Iáⁿ-chheⁿ iōng chi̍t ê kún-sńg-chhiò ê kháu-khì kè-sio̍k kóng,” sī siáⁿ-lâng thè lí siá–ê?”

Lú chok-ka kóng:” Khí-kám! Khí-kám!” Jiân-āu koh iōng khau-sé ê khùi-kháu mn̄g:” si siáⁿ-lâng thè lí tha̍k–ê?”

———————————-

A female author was having a party to celebrate the publishing of her new book.

A female movie star walked over to her and said: “Your work is so well written, and of such high quality. So,” the starlet continued in a joking way, “who wrote it for you?”

The authoress said, “Oh, it’s nothing really.” She continued mockingly, asking (the movie star), “who read it for you.”

Original joke here.

Stupid and lazy

Pn̄g7-tháng kòa chhia lián

Literally: (Like a) rice bucket with wheels.

Mixed-race (person)

From least offensive to most offensive:

Hūn-hiat ê [“mixed-blood”]
Lām-hoeh [“mixed-up blood”]
pòaⁿ-hóng-á [?]

Of course, there’s always “mutt”:
cha̍p8-chéng-káu
Literally: “dog of ten kinds”

Update: Added the missing eight tone marker to chap8-cheng2-kau2. As you may have noticed, I’ve been having trouble getting the eighth tone to show up in WordPress lately.

Also, I just realized the chap8 of chap8-cheng2-kau2 could also be–and probably is–the chap8 meaning “mixed, confused,” as in hok8-chap8.

“She’s got a nice personality”

(In other words, she’s not very pretty)

 

I seⁿ-liáu chiok an-chôan

She looks very safe.

 

Seⁿ-liáu hiân-hōe

(She) looks hospitable.

 

Siú kau-thong ê kui-chek

Follows all the traffic rules

 

Some more here.

Lazybones

Pîn-tōaⁿ-sian

Hó kha hó chhiú m̄ khì thó-thàn, bo̍k-kòai lâng ē kiò lí pîn-tōaⁿ-sian.

You’ve got two good legs and two good arms, and yet you don’t go out and work for a living.  No wonder people call you a slacker.

Note: Sian is (usually) a pejorative suffix used to form an agent noun.  Other examples include:

Chiú-sian, chiú-sian-á (alcoholic)

Kiáu-sian, kiáu-sian-á (gambler)

Ài-khàu-sian (crybaby)

Sǹg-miā-sian-á (fortuneteller)