半鹹淡

半鹹淡

1. (Eastern Min) "Half Fuzhou dialect and half Mandarin", i.e. Fuzhou dialect spoken by a non-native, or Standard Mandarin spoken by a native Fuzhounese.

   我福州儂講普通話，半鹹淡會乞汝笑。 [Eastern Min, trad.]
   我福州侬讲普通话，半咸淡会乞汝笑。 [Eastern Min, simp.]

   nguāi Hók-ciŭ-nè̤ng gōng pū-tŭng-uâ, buáng-gèng-dâng â̤ ké̤ṳk nṳ̄ chiéu. / [ŋuai³³ huʔ²⁴⁻²¹ t͡sieu⁵⁵ nˡøyŋ⁵³ kouŋ³³ pʰu³³⁻²¹ ^(tʰ-)luŋ⁵⁵⁻⁵³ ^(Ø-)ŋuɑ²⁴² puaŋ²¹³⁻⁵³ ^(k-)ŋɛiŋ⁵³⁻²¹ ^(t-)nɑŋ²⁴² ɑ²⁴² kʰøyʔ²⁴ nˡy³³ t͡sʰiɛu²¹³] [Bàng-uâ-cê / IPA]

   Please excuse my poor Mandarin level; I am Fuzhounese and my Mandarin is non-standard.

2. (Eastern Min) A person who speaks nonstandard Fuzhou dialect or Mandarin.

半鹹淡

1. (Hakka) half salty and half insipid; not salty enough
2. (Hakka) to have a smattering of knowledge about something; to be a non-expert
3. (Cantonese, of language mastery) bad; low-quality; non-standard

• (to be a non-expert): 半桶水 (bàntǒngshuǐ)
• (non-standard): 唔鹹唔淡／唔咸唔淡, 半桶水 (bàntǒngshuǐ)