滾水淥豬腸

Chinese

		boiling water; very hot water	clear (water); strain liquids	hog; pig; swine	intestines
trad. (滾水淥豬腸)		滾水	淥	豬	腸
simp. (滚水渌猪肠)		滚水	渌	猪	肠
Literally: “a pig intestine cooked with boiling water”.

Etymology

A piece of pork intestine shrinks on both sides when it is cooked with boiling water, and is used as a metaphor for decrease in income and expense.

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gwan² seoi² luk⁶ zyu¹ coeng^4-2

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• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: gwan² seoi² luk⁶ zyu¹ coeng^4-2
    • Yale: gwán séui luhk jyū chéung
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gwan² soey² luk⁹ dzy¹ tsoeng^4-2
    • Guangdong Romanization: guen² sêu² lug⁶ ju¹ cêng^4-2
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʷɐn³⁵ sɵy̯³⁵ lʊk̚² t͡syː⁵⁵ t͡sʰœːŋ²¹⁻³⁵/

Idiom

滾水淥豬腸

1. (Cantonese) the situation when someone has to control his/her expenses due to decrease in income