All about eating (I) (slang)

Some people say that Chinese culture is all about eating. Not only do Chinese say 民以食為天(min2 yi3 shi2 wei2 tian),which means for ordinary people, food is their “sky,” i.e. the most vital part of their life. There’re so many expressions that are related to eating:

糊口(hu2 kou3) : make a living; keep body and soul together, with 糊meaning to paste while 口meaning mouth.

飯碗(fan4 wan3): a job, bread and butter. Literally飯means rice,碗,bowl. So 飯碗 is the bowl you use to contain the rice you eat. In Taiwan, we often call a job at the bank a “golden” 飯碗(金飯碗 jin fan4 wan3) because it’s related to gold, money; a job for the government service or in the public school is called “iron” 飯碗(鐵飯碗 tye3 fan4 wan3) because it’s well protected and you don’t need to worry about being laid off (unless you commit a major crime.) It is unbreakable.

混飯吃(hun4 fan4 chi): similar to糊口, which means you get a job and just live hand to mouth. Literally it means to manage to get some rice to eat. 混means to fool around, idle around. For example, when someone makes a compliment and expresses his envy to a civil servant saying that his job is a “鐵飯碗,” the latter might respond, “只是混飯吃罷了”(zhi3 shi4 hun4 fan4 chi ba4 le) It’s just a job that keeps my body and soul together; no big deal but a job.

吃得開(chi de kai): It’s used to refer to the status that someone is doing very well, or playing an important part in his job or career. For example, 陳先生在金融界吃得很開, Mr. Chen is doing very well in the financial business.

吃豆腐(chi dou4 fu3): Literally it means “eating tofu,” which actually implies sexual harassment. It could be used when a man is physically harassing a woman, but vise versa. It could also mean verbal harassment. For example, Mr. Chen likes to 吃女人豆腐. Mr. Chen likes to harass women.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

民以食為天=民以食为天

飯碗=饭碗

鐵飯碗=铁饭碗

吃得開=吃得开