一啖荔枝三把火

Chinese

		one; single; a one; single; a; (before verbs) as soon as, once; (before a noun) entire (family, etc.)	eat; taste; entice (with a bait)		three	handle; (a measure word); (marker for direct-object) handle; (a measure word); (marker for direct-object); to hold; to contain; to grasp; to take hold of	fire; angry; fierce fire; angry; fierce; fiery; thriving
trad. (一啖荔枝三把火)		一	啖	荔枝	三	把	火
simp. #(一啖荔枝三把火)		一	啖	荔枝	三	把	火
Literally: “one bite of lychee [equals] three flaming torches”.

Etymology

Corruption of a line in 《惠州一絕》 by Su Shi:

日啖荔枝三百顆，不辭長作嶺南人。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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日啖荔枝三百颗，不辞长作岭南人。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

jat⁶ daam⁶ lai⁶ zi¹ saam¹ baak³ fo², bat¹ ci⁴ coeng⁴ zok³ ling⁵ naam⁴ jan⁴. [Jyutping]

Daily eating three hundred lychees, I would not resist staying in Lingnan.

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jat¹ daam⁶ lai⁶ zi¹ saam¹ baa² fo²

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• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jat¹ daam⁶ lai⁶ zi¹ saam¹ baa² fo²
    • Yale: yāt daahm laih jī sāam bá fó
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jat⁷ daam⁶ lai⁶ dzi¹ saam¹ baa² fo²
    • Guangdong Romanization: yed¹ dam⁶ lei⁶ ji¹ sam¹ ba² fo²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɐt̚⁵ taːm²² lɐi̯²² t͡siː⁵⁵ saːm⁵⁵ paː³⁵ fɔː³⁵/

Proverb

一啖荔枝三把火

1. (Cantonese, idiomatic) Describes the purported negative effects (i.e. causing excessive internal heat) of eating lychee fruit.