sai1 bak1 fung1西北風西北风
Jyutpingsai1 bak1 fung1
Yalesāi bāk fūng
Definition
Northwest wind; by extension, nothing to eat.
- northwest wind
- figurativenothing to eat; to go hungry
colloquialfoodmoney
How it's used
Drinking the northwest wind is a vivid idiom for having nothing to eat or being completely broke. It highlights the emptiness of one's stomach by suggesting that the only thing available to consume is the cold air blowing from the northwest. It is often used in a self-deprecating or humorous way to describe financial hardship.
Examples
I have no money for food this month, so I have to drink the northwest wind.
Related words
Common phrases
to have nothing to eat
Common mistake
Do not use this phrase to describe actual weather conditions, as it is strictly figurative and refers to poverty or hunger. It is not a meteorological term in daily conversation.
Grammar color guide
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Grammar guides
- In 30 secondsThe whole language at a glance. No tenses, no plurals, six tones, sentence particles. Read this before you dive into any specific topic.
- ParticlesSentence particles add tone, emotion, and nuance. Learn the most common particles in Cantonese and how to use them.
- Possession (嘅)How to say my, your, and his, and how to link a describing word to a noun, all with the little word 嘅 (ge3).
