鹹魚翻身

See also: 咸鱼翻身

Chinese

		salted fish; zombie; corpse	to turn over; to double over; to turn around
trad. (鹹魚翻身)		鹹魚	翻身
simp. (咸鱼翻身)		咸鱼	翻身

Etymology

Blend of Cantonese 鹹魚返生／咸鱼返生 (haam4 jyu4-2 faan1 saang1) and 翻身 (fānshēn, “to rise from poverty or slavery”). The Cantonese-specific word 返生 (faan1 saang1, “to be brought back to life”) was changed to the near-homophonic and synonymous 翻身 (fānshēn) when it spread to other varieties of Chinese.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xiányú fānshēn

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄢˊ ㄩˊ ㄈㄢ ㄕㄣ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): haam⁴ jyu^4-2 faan¹ san¹
• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁶ghe-ng-fe-sen; ⁶ghe-yu-fe-sen

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xiányú fānshēn
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄢˊ ㄩˊ ㄈㄢ ㄕㄣ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: siányú fanshen
    • Wade–Giles: hsien²-yü² fan¹-shên¹
    • Yale: syán-yú fān-shēn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shyanyu fanshen
    • Palladius: сяньюй фаньшэнь (sjanʹjuj fanʹšɛnʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ɛn³⁵ y³⁵ fän⁵⁵ ʂən⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: haam⁴ jyu^4-2 faan¹ san¹
    • Yale: hàahm yú fāan sān
    • Cantonese Pinyin: haam⁴ jy^4-2 faan¹ san¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: ham⁴ yu^4-2 fan¹ sen¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /haːm²¹ jyː²¹⁻³⁵ faːn⁵⁵ sɐn⁵⁵/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ⁶ghe-ng-fe-sen; ⁶ghe-yu-fe-sen
    • MiniDict: ghe^去 ng fe sen; ghe^去 yu fe sen
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ³hhe-ngg-fe-sen; ³hhe-hhy-fe-sen
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /ɦe²² ŋ̍⁵⁵ fe³³ sən²¹/, /ɦe²² ɦy⁵⁵ fe³³ sən²¹/

Verb

鹹魚翻身

1. to suddenly thrive and prosper while seemingly hopeless before; to make a comeback victory

   鹹魚翻身還是鹹魚 [MSC, trad.]
   咸鱼翻身还是咸鱼 [MSC, simp.]

   xiányú fānshēn háishì xiányú [Pinyin]

   Even if the underdog becomes the overdog, he is still a dog.