台灣俗語的智慧(11)

台灣俗語的智慧(11)

以下為四字成語，閩南人謂之『四句聯』，常出現於日常生活中與地方戲曲如歌仔戲、子弟戲或改良前的布袋戲等。與其他漢民族一樣，四個字可以道盡一切，迄今在廈門一帶民間習俗戲劇-『答嘴鼓』(witty chatting) 仍頗流行：

1.    半桶師仔-(buang tang sai ‘ah)half-skilled craftsman不太精通的師父

2.    看破腳手-(kuang puah kah ‘chiu) being disillusioned/ giving up original expectations醒悟/瞭解事情全貌後，放棄原有期望

3.    掠脚掠手-(liah kah liah chiu)awkward, clumsy動作笨拙。英語說：He is all thumbs. (=clumsy) 他的手指全是大姆指(比喻動作不靈巧)

4.    躡脚躡手- (niam kah niam ‘chiu) move or walk on tiptoes (用tiptoe脚尖走路) or walk stealthily小心靜聲地走路

5.    空嘴薄舌- (kang tsui boh chi) (信口開河，不實在講話，空口白話) lying

6.    空殼支票- (kang kah chi pio) (不兌現的支票，即拔拉票) a bad check

7.    搓圓仔湯- (soh yiang t’n) (分一杯羹) take advantage of someone by pushing in to ask for a share of profit

8.    插花仔-(tsah huei ah) joining others in the midst of something, wishing to have an easy share; exploiting (中途插入，希望分到現成的一份利益)

9.    某死某嫩 (boh see boh ch’in) Each time a man’s wife dies, the woman he marries again is younger than the previous one. (老婆死了，太太愈娶愈年輕)

10.滿面春風 (muah m’ng chun hong) with a smiling face; cheerful, self-complacently

11.老臣在在 (lao sin zhai zhai)鎮靜地comfortably and composedly

12. 拿香對拜 (giah hu-n due bai) (對=模仿之意 (imitating)

直譯：holding burning scents, and worshiping as others

意譯：(沒有主見) following the example or footsteps of others like a puppet 像傀儡一樣，跟隨他人做事。not having opinion oneself 沒有主見；passively and submissively被動或乖乖地依照他人做事

13. 紅柿出頭 (ahng kih chut tao) ，羅漢脚仔目屎流(loh han kah bat sai lao)

直譯：When red persimmons come to be in season, (in late autumn) bachelors will suffer, crying because he has no wife to take care of him in the following colder seasons.秋天一到天氣轉凉，就苦了光棍，因為沒有妻子在往後冷天氣中可照顧他(羅漢脚仔即光棍)

意譯：With winter approaching, bachelors are complaining about being alone.

14. 桌頂拿柑 (doh t’ng nih kam)

直譯：taking oranges from the table

意譯：It is just as easy as 123 taking oranges from the table指輕而易舉地獲得某事或成就

15. 牛欄假鹿鞭 (guh lan geh lok pian)

直譯：using a bull’s genital organ to substitute for that of a deer (用牛的陽具來取代鹿的陽具)

意譯：a fake product taking the place of a genuine or authentic one以冒牌貨充當真貨 (a fake=counterfeit冒牌貨) (牛欄-指雄牛的生殖器，在中藥價值上台灣人認為鹿鞭-雄鹿的生殖器，是壯陽的。這是不雅的說詞，尤其女性禁用。現有人改為『梨仔假蘋果』，男女通用，但沒有原句傳神。(從前在台灣，日本富士蘋果比台灣土產的梨子貴許多，本句含以亷價品充當高貴品出售之意)

Justin Lai (賴正雄) 編譯

05/23/2015