見人說人話，見鬼說鬼話

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
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

  (Pinyin): jiàn rén shuō rénhuà, jiàn guǐ shuō guǐhuà

  (Zhuyin): ㄐㄧㄢˋ ㄖㄣˊ ㄕㄨㄛ ㄖㄣˊ ㄏㄨㄚˋ, ㄐㄧㄢˋ ㄍㄨㄟˇ ㄕㄨㄛ ㄍㄨㄟˇ ㄏㄨㄚˋ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: jiàn rén shuō rénhuà, jiàn guǐ shuō guǐhuà
    • Zhuyin: ㄐㄧㄢˋ ㄖㄣˊ ㄕㄨㄛ ㄖㄣˊ ㄏㄨㄚˋ, ㄐㄧㄢˋ ㄍㄨㄟˇ ㄕㄨㄛ ㄍㄨㄟˇ ㄏㄨㄚˋ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jiann ren shuo renhuah, jiann goei shuo goeihuah
    • IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕi̯ɛn⁵¹ ʐən³⁵ ʂu̯ɔ⁵⁵ ʐən³⁵ xu̯ä⁵¹⁻⁵³ t͡ɕi̯ɛn⁵¹ ku̯eɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ ʂu̯ɔ⁵⁵ ku̯eɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ xu̯ä⁵¹/

Proverb

見人說人話，見鬼說鬼話

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

Synonyms

• (Cantonese) 見人講人話，見鬼講鬼話／见人讲人话，见鬼讲鬼话