mgmei Posted January 19, 2005 at 04:13 AM Report Posted January 19, 2005 at 04:13 AM Hi all, I am translating some of my grandfather's writings, but my Chinese background is insufficient to cover some of the more obscure usages. What does the phrase 坐食山空 mean? Thanks everyone, Matt Quote
kentsuarez Posted January 19, 2005 at 06:11 AM Report Posted January 19, 2005 at 06:11 AM In classical Chinese and Cantonese, 食 means eat, like 吃. In Taiwan, at least, (where I live and the only standpoint from which I can speak), 坐吃山空 is still used fairly commonly in colloquial speech to mean 'to be lazy and squander', often used jocularly. 坐食 is, in the ABC Comprehensive Dict, defined as <wr.> sit idle and eat; be a parasite; eat without toiling, and 坐吃山空 is defined as 'fritter away a great fortune'. 山 represents the fortune, fittered away until it is 空 gone. Quote
skylee Posted January 19, 2005 at 06:33 AM Report Posted January 19, 2005 at 06:33 AM Another way to say the same thing is 坐食山崩. Quote
Bright Posted January 19, 2005 at 07:01 AM Report Posted January 19, 2005 at 07:01 AM What kentsuarez has given is the surface meaning of "坐吃山空". When it is used, it often has the implied meaning. That is "only know how to consume the current fortune insouciantly, but having no plan for the future". Quote
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