鹹魚翻身

See also: 咸鱼翻身

Chinese

		salted fish; zombie; corpse	to turn over; to double over; to turn around
trad. (鹹魚翻身)		鹹魚	翻身
simp. (咸鱼翻身)		咸鱼	翻身

Etymology

Blend of Cantonese 鹹魚返生／咸鱼返生 (haam4 jyu4-2 faan1 saang1) and 翻身 (fānshēn, “to rise from poverty or slavery”). The Cantonese-specific word 返生 (faan1 saang1, “to be brought back to life”) was changed to the near-homophonic and synonymous 翻身 (fānshēn) when it spread to other varieties of Chinese.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): xiányú fānshēn

(Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄢˊ ㄩˊ ㄈㄢㄕㄣ
Cantonese (Jyutping): haam⁴ jyu^4-2 faan¹ san¹
Wu (Wugniu)
- (Shanghainese): ⁶ghe-ng-fe-sen; ⁶ghe-yu-fe-sen

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: xiányú fānshēn
  - Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄢˊ ㄩˊ ㄈㄢㄕㄣ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: siányú fanshen
  - Wade–Giles: hsien²-yü² fan¹-shên¹
  - Yale: syán-yú fān-shēn
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shyanyu fanshen
  - Palladius: сяньюй фаньшэнь (sjanʹjuj fanʹšɛnʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ɛn³⁵ y³⁵ fän⁵⁵ ʂən⁵⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: haam⁴ jyu^4-2 faan¹ san¹
  - Yale: hàahm yú fāan sān
  - Cantonese Pinyin: haam⁴ jy^4-2 faan¹ san¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: ham⁴ yu^4-2 fan¹ sen¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /haːm²¹ jyː²¹⁻³⁵ faːn⁵⁵ sɐn⁵⁵/
Wu
- (Shanghainese)
  - Wugniu: ⁶ghe-ng-fe-sen; ⁶ghe-yu-fe-sen
  - Wiktionary Romanisation: ³hhe-hhngg-fe-sen; ³hhe-hhy-fe-sen
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɦe²² ŋ̍⁵⁵ fe³³ sən²¹/, /ɦe²² ɦy⁵⁵ fe³³ sən²¹/

Verb

鹹魚翻身

to suddenly thrive and prosper while seemingly hopeless before; to make a comeback victory
鹹魚翻身還是鹹魚 [MSC, trad.]
咸鱼翻身还是咸鱼 [MSC, simp.]
xiányú fānshēn háishì xiányú [Pinyin]
Even if the underdog becomes the overdog, he is still a dog.

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