見人說人話，見鬼說鬼話

Chinese
 
to see; to meet; to appear
to see; to meet; to appear; to interview
 man; person; people to speak; to say; persuade (politically) human speech; sensible talk
 
to see; to meet; to appear
to see; to meet; to appear; to interview
 ghost; sly; crafty to speak; to say; persuade (politically) lie; baloney; crazy talk
trad. (見人說人話，見鬼說鬼話) 見 人 說 人話 ， 見 鬼 說 鬼話
simp. (见人说人话，见鬼说鬼话) 见 人 说 人话 ， 见 鬼 说 鬼话
Literally: “speaking the language of humans when seeing a human, and speaking the language of devils when seeing a devil”.

Pronunciation

  • Mandarin
    • (Standard Chinese)+
      • Hanyu Pinyin: jiàn rén shuō rénhuà, jiàn guǐ shuō guǐhuà
      • Zhuyin: ㄐㄧㄢˋ ㄖㄣˊ ㄕㄨㄛ ㄖㄣˊ ㄏㄨㄚˋ , ㄐㄧㄢˋ ㄍㄨㄟˇ ㄕㄨㄛ ㄍㄨㄟˇ ㄏㄨㄚˋ
      • Tongyong Pinyin: jiàn rén shuo rénhuà, jiàn guěi shuo guěihuà
      • Wade–Giles: chien4 jên2 shuo1 jên2-hua4, chien4 kuei3 shuo1 kuei3-hua4
      • Yale: jyàn rén shwō rén-hwà-, jyàn gwěi shwō gwěi-hwà
      • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jiann ren shuo renhuah, jiann goei shuo goeihuah
      • Palladius: цзянь жэнь шо жэньхуа, цзянь гуй шо гуйхуа (czjanʹ žɛnʹ šo žɛnʹxua, czjanʹ guj šo gujxua)
      • Sinological IPA (key): /t͡ɕi̯ɛn⁵¹ ʐən³⁵ ʂu̯ɔ⁵⁵ ʐən³⁵ xu̯ä⁵¹⁻⁵³ t͡ɕi̯ɛn⁵¹ ku̯eɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʂu̯ɔ⁵⁵ ku̯eɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ xu̯ä⁵¹/

Proverb

見人說人話，見鬼說鬼話

  1. (figurative) to be flexible and know what to say in different situations and to different people; (derogatory) to be crafty and two-faced

Synonyms
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