喝西北风 - meaning

[Scoobyqueen]

喝西北风

What does this expression mean if it has a meaning beyond its literal translation? Not sure if I am reading it right. There is no reference to it in the dictionary. I presume it is something to do with financial ruin.

[Guoke]

喝西北风 = to be starved

[chaxiu]

喝西北風 id. suffer from cold and hunger

[Asiasy]

比如：

A: 再不找到工作，就只有去喝西北风啦

It`s alternate way to say "starve"

[creamyhorror]

I suggest you get a better dictionary and/or chengyu reference.

[Scoobyqueen]

I suggest you get a better dictionary and/or chengyu reference.I suggest you get a better dictionary and/or chengyu reference.

www.dict.cn usually is usually very reliable but on this occasion it obviously failed.

[ABCinChina]

From my new CEDICT dictionary, 喝西北风 = [hē xī běi fēng] lit. drink the northwest wind (成语 saw); cold and hungry.

[Guoke]

As far as I know, '喝西北风' doesn't have anything to do with 'cold'.

It does imply financial difficulties though.

According to http://www.nciku.com/ ：

喝西北风 = 指没有任何东西可吃

他没了工作，全家只能喝西北风了。

这点粮食吃光了,全家人都得喝西北风。

[creamyhorror]

www.dict.cn usually is usually very reliable but on this occasion it obviously failed.

Indeed. I think using multi-dictionary querying is crucial for Chinese, since many expressions are found only in certain dictionaries. I use StarDict with 10-15 dictionaries and even then it doesn't have everything. Sometimes the only result I find is in the Shougakukan Chinese-Japanese dictionary, which is a bit scary (e.g. 混饭吃 - the other dictionaries have 挣饭吃). Anyway, I recommend you try StarDict with a full set of dictionaries.

[Hanlink]

In Cantonese, the phrase uses 食 (eat) rather than drink, but I would suspect that the meaning is the same; it means you have nothing to live on except for the North-east wind, which means you will be in (or are in) dire straits. It is often used rhetorically or sarcastically, so if, for example, the wife tells her husband after she has found out he has lost his job:"惨啊! 我们喝什么?喝西北风嘛?!赶快找工作去啊!