Fair-weather friend

Chiú bah pêng-iú

Literally: Wine (and) meat friend

Short-sighted; not thinking things through

Tǹg saⁿ bé chiú lim —- kò͘ chhùi bô kò͘ sin

Literally: Pawning clothes to buy liquor to drink — care for mouth but not for body.

Take petty revenge

Pò niáu-chhí-á oan

Literally: Revenge a mouse wrong

Quirk; bad habit

Pháiⁿ phiah

—————–

I ū chi̍t ê phaiⁿ phiah, chiū sī ài iōng chhiú ni̍h chhài chia̍h.

He has the bad habit of using his hands to pick up food.

Trust no one

Soaⁿ tiong iú ti̍t chhiū, sè-siōng bô ti̍t jîn

Literally: “In the mountains there are straight trees, but on earth there are no upright men.”

(Leave) incomplete; stop before finishing; well begun, but half-done

Ū thâu bô bóe

Literally: “Has a head (but) no tail”

—————————-

While we’re at it:

Ū thâu ū bóe

Complete; (of a job, task, et cetera) finished

Literally: “Has a head (and) has a tail”

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”)

A bird in hand…; the greedy dog loses his bone

Lia̍h  kú cháu pih

Literally: have a turtle in hand (but) run after a terrapin.

Moderate drinker

Lim chiú ū chún-chat ê lâng

Hypocritical behavior (especially by a religious figure or other do-gooder)

Chhùi liām keng, chhiú bong leng.

Literally: The mouth recites sutras, (while) the hand gropes a breast.