吃喝玩樂

See also: 吃喝玩乐

Chinese

		food and drink; diet; to eat and drink	to have fun; play around; to disport oneself
trad. (吃喝玩樂)		吃喝	玩樂
simp. (吃喝玩乐)		吃喝	玩乐
Literally: “eat, drink, play and be merry”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): chīhēwánlè

  (Zhuyin): ㄔ ㄏㄜ ㄨㄢˊ ㄌㄜˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): hek³ hot³ wun⁶ lok⁶

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: chīhēwánlè
    • Zhuyin: ㄔ ㄏㄜ ㄨㄢˊ ㄌㄜˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: chihhewánlè
    • Wade–Giles: chʻih¹-ho¹-wan²-lê⁴
    • Yale: chr̄-hē-wán-lè
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chyhewanleh
    • Palladius: чихэваньлэ (čixɛvanʹlɛ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʰʐ̩⁵⁵ xɤ⁵⁵ wän³⁵ lɤ⁵¹/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, erhua-ed)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: chīhēwánrlè
    • Zhuyin: ㄔ ㄏㄜ ㄨㄢˊㄦ ㄌㄜˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: chihhewánrlè
    • Wade–Giles: chʻih¹-ho¹-wan²-ʼrh-lê⁴
    • Yale: chr̄-hē-wánr-lè
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chyhewalleh
    • Palladius: чихэваньрлэ (čixɛvanʹrlɛ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʰʐ̩⁵⁵ xɤ⁵⁵ wɑɻ³⁵ lɤ⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: hek³ hot³ wun⁶ lok⁶
    • Yale: hek hot wuhn lohk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: hek⁸ hot⁸ wun⁶ lok⁹
    • Guangdong Romanization: hég³ hod³ wun⁶ log⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hɛːk̚³ hɔːt̚³ wuːn²² lɔːk̚²/

Idiom

吃喝玩樂

1. (derogatory) to eat, drink and be merry; to seek pleasure instead of doing work

   他不務正業，天天就知道吃喝玩樂。 [MSC, trad.]
   他不务正业，天天就知道吃喝玩乐。 [MSC, simp.]

   Tā bùwùzhèngyè, tiāntiān jiù zhīdào chīhēwánlè. [Pinyin]

   He won't do an honest day's work, and instead spends his days just having fun.

Usage notes

Unlike the equivalent English idiom, “eat drink and be merry”, in some contexts this Chinese expression conveys a negative impression of shirking honest work to seek pleasure.

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 吃喝玩樂 (“to eat, drink and be merry; to seek pleasure instead of doing work”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		吃喝玩樂
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	吃喝玩兒樂
	Taiwan	吃喝玩樂
	Singapore	吃喝玩樂
Cantonese	Hong Kong	吃喝玩樂
Southern Min	Xiamen	食啉𨑨, 啉食𨑨, 食跋𨑨
	Quanzhou	食跋𨑨
Wu	Shanghai	吃吃白相相
	Wuxi	吃吃白相相