了錢生理無人做，刣頭生理有人做

Chinese

		to lose money; to make a loss; to waste money	business; trade; buying and selling	not have	man; person; people	to do; to make; to produce		to behead; to decapitate; to fire	business; trade; buying and selling	to have; there is; there are to have; there is; there are; to exist; to be	man; person; people	to do; to make; to produce
trad. (了錢生理無人做，刣頭生理有人做)		了錢	生理	無	人	做	，	刣頭	生理	有	人	做
simp. (了钱生理无人做，刣头生理有人做)		了钱	生理	无	人	做	，	刣头	生理	有	人	做

Pronunciation

• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): liáu-chîⁿ seng-lí bô lâng chò, thâi-thâu seng-lí ū lâng chò

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• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: liáu-chîⁿ seng-lí bô lâng chò, thâi-thâu seng-lí ū lâng chò
    • Tâi-lô: liáu-tsînn sing-lí bô lâng tsò, thâi-thâu sing-lí ū lâng tsò
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /liau⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ t͡sĩ²³ siɪŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ li⁴¹ bɤ²³⁻³³ laŋ²³⁻³³ t͡sɤ²¹ tʰai²³⁻³³ tʰau²³ siɪŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ li⁴¹ u³³⁻²¹ laŋ²³⁻³³ t͡sɤ²¹/
    • IPA (Taipei): /liau⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡sĩ²⁴ siɪŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ li⁵³ bo²⁴⁻¹¹ laŋ²⁴⁻¹¹ t͡so¹¹ tʰai²⁴⁻¹¹ tʰau²⁴ siɪŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ li⁵³ u³³⁻¹¹ laŋ²⁴⁻¹¹ t͡so¹¹/

Idiom

了錢生理無人做，刣頭生理有人做

1. (Southern Min, sarcastic) People are not willing to do business that does not make profit, but are willing to do business involving murder. (Used to satirize businesspeople who use evil means to profiteer)

Synonyms

• (Mandarin) 賠錢生意沒人做，殺頭生意有人做 (calque)

Further reading

• “Entry #26886”, 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.