做又三十六，唔做又三十六

Chinese

		to do; to make; to produce	(once) again; also; both... and... (once) again; also; both... and...; again	thirty-six; 36		hold in mouth; bite; (Cant.) no/not	to do; to make; to produce	(once) again; also; both... and... (once) again; also; both... and...; again	thirty-six; 36
simp. and trad. (做又三十六，唔做又三十六)		做	又	三十六	，	唔	做	又	三十六
alternative forms		做又36，唔做又36
Literally: “doing [one's job, one] gets [a salary of] thirty-six, not doing [one's job, the salary is] also thirty-six”.

Etymology

Under the communist social system before Chinese economic reform, most of the workers in state-owned organizations received a monthly salary of approximately 36 yuans no matter how much effort they paid.

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zou⁶ jau⁶ saam¹ sap⁶ luk⁶, m⁴ zou⁶ jau⁶ saam¹ sap⁶ luk⁶

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• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: zou⁶ jau⁶ saam¹ sap⁶ luk⁶, m⁴ zou⁶ jau⁶ saam¹ sap⁶ luk⁶
    • Yale: jouh yauh sāam sahp luhk, m̀h jouh yauh sāam sahp luhk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzou⁶ jau⁶ saam¹ sap⁹ luk⁹, m⁴ dzou⁶ jau⁶ saam¹ sap⁹ luk⁹
    • Guangdong Romanization: zou⁶ yeo⁶ sam¹ seb⁶ lug⁶, m⁴ zou⁶ yeo⁶ sam¹ seb⁶ lug⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sou̯²² jɐu̯²² saːm⁵⁵ sɐp̚² lʊk̚² m̩²¹ t͡sou̯²² jɐu̯²² saːm⁵⁵ sɐp̚² lʊk̚²/

Idiom

做又三十六，唔做又三十六

1. (Cantonese) the payoffs or outcomes are always the same, whether one is doing the job properly or not (suggests that one should not put effort into doing their work)

Synonyms

• 做又卅六，唔做又卅六