食四面風，講五色話

Chinese

	eat; food; to feed eat; food; to feed; animal feed	four directions; all sides; all around	wind; news; style wind; news; style; custom; manner		to talk; speech; to speak to talk; speech; to speak; to tell; to explain	blue, yellow, red, black and white; multi-colored	spoken words; speech; dialect spoken words; speech; dialect; language; talk; conversation; what someone said
trad. (食四面風，講五色話)	食	四面	風	，	講	五色	話
simp. (食四面风，讲五色话)	食	四面	风	，	讲	五色	话
Literally: “eat winds from every direction and speaking languages of various colors”.

Pronunciation

Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): chia̍h sù-bīn hong, kóng ngó͘-sek ōe / chia̍h sì-bīn hong, kóng ngó͘-sek ōe / chia̍h sì-bīn hoang, káng gó͘-siak ōe

Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chia̍h sù-bīn hong, kóng ngó͘-sek ōe
  - Tâi-lô: tsia̍h sù-bīn hong, kóng ngóo-sik uē
  - IPA (Xiamen): /t͡sia(ʔ)⁴⁻²¹ su²¹⁻⁵³ bin²²⁻²¹ hɔŋ⁴⁴ kɔŋ⁵³⁻⁴⁴ ŋɔ̃⁵³⁻⁴⁴ siɪk̚³²⁻⁴ ue²²/
  - IPA (Taipei): /t͡sia(ʔ)⁴⁻¹¹ su¹¹⁻⁵³ bin³³⁻¹¹ hɔŋ⁴⁴ kɔŋ⁵³⁻⁴⁴ ŋɔ̃⁵³⁻⁴⁴ siɪk̚³²⁻⁴ ue³³/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡sia(ʔ)⁴⁻²¹ su²¹⁻⁴¹ bin³³⁻²¹ hɔŋ⁴⁴ kɔŋ⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ ŋɔ̃⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ siɪk̚³²⁻⁴ ue³³/
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chia̍h sì-bīn hong, kóng ngó͘-sek ōe
  - Tâi-lô: tsia̍h sì-bīn hong, kóng ngóo-sik uē
  - IPA (Xiamen): /t͡sia(ʔ)⁴⁻²¹ si²¹⁻⁵³ bin²²⁻²¹ hɔŋ⁴⁴ kɔŋ⁵³⁻⁴⁴ ŋɔ̃⁵³⁻⁴⁴ siɪk̚³²⁻⁴ ue²²/
  - IPA (Taipei): /t͡sia(ʔ)⁴⁻¹¹ si¹¹⁻⁵³ bin³³⁻¹¹ hɔŋ⁴⁴ kɔŋ⁵³⁻⁴⁴ ŋɔ̃⁵³⁻⁴⁴ siɪk̚³²⁻⁴ ue³³/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡sia(ʔ)⁴⁻²¹ si²¹⁻⁴¹ bin³³⁻²¹ hɔŋ⁴⁴ kɔŋ⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ ŋɔ̃⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ siɪk̚³²⁻⁴ ue³³/
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chia̍h sì-bīn hoang, káng gó͘-siak ōe
  - Tâi-lô: tsia̍h sì-bīn huang, káng góo-siak uē
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡sia(ʔ)²⁴⁻² si⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ bin⁴¹⁻²² huaŋ³³ kaŋ⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ ɡɔ⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ siak̚⁵⁻²⁴ ue⁴¹/

Proverb

食四面風，講五色話

(Southern Min) to be flexible and know what to say in different situations and to different people

Synonyms

八面玲瓏 / 八面玲珑 (bāmiànlínglóng); 見人說人話，見鬼說鬼話 / 见人说人话，见鬼说鬼话 (jiàn rén shuō rénhuà, jiàn guǐ shuō guǐhuà)