陸榮廷睇相——唔衰攞來衰

Chinese

		Lu Rongting	to practise physiognomy; to tell fortune by reading the subject's facial features		hold in mouth; bite; (Cant.) no/not	weak; feeble; decline weak; feeble; decline; wane; mourning garments	(Cantonese) to take; to get	to come	weak; feeble; decline weak; feeble; decline; wane; mourning garments
trad. (陸榮廷睇相——唔衰攞來衰)		陸榮廷	睇相	——	唔	衰	攞	來	衰
simp. (陆荣廷睇相——唔衰𫽋來衰)		陆荣廷	睇相	——	唔	衰	𫽋	來	衰
alternative forms		陸雲廷睇相——唔衰攞來衰／陆云廷睇相——唔衰𫽋来衰
Literally: “Lu Rongting sees a fortune teller - asking for trouble”.

Etymology

From a legend that the Guangxi warlord Lu Rongting once met a fortune teller, but dressed up like a poor person to prevent people from recognizing him. Despite that, his disguise turned out to be useless to the fortune teller, and he ridiculed Lu by telling that he reaped what he sown to become poor (in some versions of the legend, the fortune teller said that Lu would have trouble in the future). Later, Lu was defeated by other cliques and fell from power, making what the fortune teller told him true.

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): luk⁶ wing⁴ ting⁴ tai² soeng³, m⁴ seoi¹ lo² lei⁴ seoi¹ / luk⁶ wing⁴ ting⁴ tai² soeng³, m⁴ seoi¹ lo² lai⁴ seoi¹

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• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: luk⁶ wing⁴ ting⁴ tai² soeng³, m⁴ seoi¹ lo² lei⁴ seoi¹ / luk⁶ wing⁴ ting⁴ tai² soeng³, m⁴ seoi¹ lo² lai⁴ seoi¹
    • Yale: luhk wìhng tìhng tái seung, m̀h sēui ló lèih sēui / luhk wìhng tìhng tái seung, m̀h sēui ló làih sēui
    • Cantonese Pinyin: luk⁹ wing⁴ ting⁴ tai² soeng³, m⁴ soey¹ lo² lei⁴ soey¹ / luk⁹ wing⁴ ting⁴ tai² soeng³, m⁴ soey¹ lo² lai⁴ soey¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: lug⁶ wing⁴ ting⁴ tei² sêng³, m⁴ sêu¹ lo² léi⁴ sêu¹ / lug⁶ wing⁴ ting⁴ tei² sêng³, m⁴ sêu¹ lo² lei⁴ sêu¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lʊk̚² wɪŋ²¹ tʰɪŋ²¹ tʰɐi̯³⁵ sœːŋ³³ m̩²¹ sɵy̯⁵⁵ lɔː³⁵ lei̯²¹ sɵy̯⁵⁵/, /lʊk̚² wɪŋ²¹ tʰɪŋ²¹ tʰɐi̯³⁵ sœːŋ³³ m̩²¹ sɵy̯⁵⁵ lɔː³⁵ lɐi̯²¹ sɵy̯⁵⁵/

Idiom

陸榮廷睇相——唔衰攞來衰

1. (Cantonese, xiehouyu) to ask for trouble; to make a rod for one's own back