無魚，蝦嘛好

Chinese

		not have	fish		shrimp; prawn	(a modal particle)	good; well; be fond of
trad. (無魚，蝦嘛好)		無	魚	，	蝦	嘛	好
simp. (无鱼，虾嘛好)		无	鱼	，	虾	嘛	好
Literally: “If there is no fish, shrimp is also good”.

Pronunciation

• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): bô hî, hê mā hó / bô hîr, hê mā hó

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• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Singapore)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bô hî, hê mā hó
    • Tâi-lô: bô hî, hê mā hó
    • IPA (Singapore): /bo²⁴⁻²¹ hi²⁴ he²⁴ ma²²⁻²¹ ho⁴²/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /bɤ²³⁻³³ hi²³ he²³ mã³³⁻²¹ hɤ⁴¹/
  • (Hokkien: Singapore)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bô hîr, hê mā hó
    • Tâi-lô: bô hîr, hê mā hó
    • IPA (Singapore): /bo²⁴⁻²¹ hɯ²⁴ he²⁴ ma²²⁻²¹ ho⁴²/

Proverb

無魚，蝦嘛好

1. (Hokkien) it is alright to settle for something less; it is better to have something than have nothing

   • 行情無好無魚蝦嘛好 [Hokkien, trad.]
     行情无好无鱼虾嘛好 [Hokkien, simp.]

     From: 2011, 黄一飞, 欢喜欢喜就好

     hâng-chêng bô hó bô hîr hê mā hó [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Synonyms

• 無魚，蝦也好／无鱼，虾也好 (wú yú, xiā yě hǎo)