一年換二十四個頭家

Chinese

		one; single; a one; single; a; (before verbs) as soon as, once; (before a noun) entire (family, etc.)	year	change; exchange	twenty-four; 24	(a measure word); individual	owner
trad. (一年換二十四個頭家/一年換二十四个頭家)		一	年	換	二十四	個/个	頭家
simp. (一年换二十四个头家)		一	年	换	二十四	个	头家
Literally: “go through 24 bosses in a year”.

Etymology

Possibly referring to the 24 solar terms of the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar year.

Pronunciation

• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): chi̍t nî ōaⁿ jī-cha̍p-sì ê thâu-ke

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• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chi̍t nî ōaⁿ jī-cha̍p-sì ê thâu-ke
    • Tâi-lô: tsi̍t nî uānn jī-tsa̍p-sì ê thâu-ke
    • Phofsit Daibuun: cit nii voa jixzabsix ee tau'kef
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡sit̚⁴⁻³² nĩ²³⁻³³ uã³³⁻²¹ zi³³⁻²¹ t͡sap̚⁴⁻³² si²¹⁻⁴¹ e²³⁻³³ tʰau²³⁻³³ ke⁴⁴/

Proverb

一年換二十四個頭家

1. (Taiwanese Hokkien) someone who is always changing jobs, a job-hopper

References

• “Entry #60015”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2023.