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 wastes money, but are willing to do business that makes a killing. (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 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2024.