八兩笑半斤

Chinese

		eight	both; two; some both; two; some; a few; tael	laugh; smile	half; semi-; incomplete half; semi-; incomplete; (after a number) and a half	catty; weight equal to 0.5 kg
trad. (八兩笑半斤)		八	兩	笑	半	斤
simp. (八两笑半斤)		八	两	笑	半	斤
Literally: “eight taels laughing at the half catty”.

Etymology

From the irony of a half catty being equal to eight taels.

Pronunciation

• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): poeh-niú chhiò-pòaⁿ-kun / peh-nió͘ chhiò-pòaⁿ-kin

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• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: poeh-niú chhiò-pòaⁿ-kun
    • Tâi-lô: pueh-niú tshiò-puànn-kun
    • Phofsit Daibuun: poehniuo chioirpvoarkwn
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /pue(ʔ)⁵ niũ⁵⁵⁴ t͡sʰio⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ puã⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ kun³³/
    • IPA (Xiamen): /pue(ʔ)³²⁻⁵³ niũ⁵³ t͡sʰio²¹⁻⁵³ puã²¹⁻⁵³ kun⁴⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: peh-nió͘ chhiò-pòaⁿ-kin
    • Tâi-lô: peh-nióo tshiò-puànn-kin
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /pe(ʔ)³²⁻⁵³ niɔ̃⁵³ t͡sʰio²¹⁻⁵³ puã²¹⁻⁵³ kin⁴⁴/

Idiom

八兩笑半斤

1. (Hokkien) pot calling the kettle black; tu quoque

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 五十步笑百步 (“pot calling the kettle black”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		五十步笑百步, 五十步笑一百步
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	五十步笑百步, 五十步笑一百步
Cantonese	Hong Kong	五十步笑百步, 五十步笑一百步
Southern Min	Xiamen	七仔笑八仔, 龜笑鱉無毛, 龜笑鱉無尾，鱉笑龜粗皮, 龜笑鱉無尾, 龜笑鱉短尾，蟳笑蝦無血, 三跤貓笑一目狗, 三跤雞笑一目狗, 八兩笑半斤
	Quanzhou	七仔笑八仔, 龜笑鱉無毛, 龜笑鱉無尾，鱉笑龜粗皮, 龜笑鱉短尾，蟳笑蝦無血, 三跤貓笑一目狗, 八兩笑半斤
	Zhangzhou	七仔笑八仔, 龜笑鱉無毛, 龜笑鱉無尾，鱉笑龜粗皮, 龜笑鱉短尾，蟳笑蝦無血, 三跤貓笑一目狗, 八兩笑半斤
	Tainan	七仔笑八仔, 龜笑鱉無尾