--- title: "Chinese Food Idioms: What 吃豆腐, 吃醋 and 炒鱿鱼 Really Mean" description: "19 Chinese sayings made from food, what their words say and what they mean: 吃豆腐 (eat tofu), 吃醋 (eat vinegar), 炒鱿鱼 (stir-fry squid), 铁饭碗 (iron rice bowl) and more, each in a sentence with pinyin and Play." canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-food-idioms" author: "Mandarin The Wild" --- Free · 19 sayings # Chinese food idioms 吃豆腐 (chī dòufu), “to eat tofu”, means to take liberties with someone. Here it is with the other sayings Chinese makes from food, what their words say and what they mean, each in a sentence with pinyin and sound. 竹笋zhúsǔnbamboo shoot Speed ## 吃醋 · 吃豆腐 · 狗粮 · 吃软饭: love and jealousy Love is eaten in Chinese: jealousy is vinegar, unwanted hands are a taste of tofu, and a couple’s show of love is dog food for the singles watching. kàndào看到nǚpéngyou女朋友gēn跟biéde别的nánshēng男生liáotiān聊天，tā他chīcù吃醋le了。 He got jealous when he saw his girlfriend chatting with another guy. 吃醋 chīcù · “eat vinegar”: **to be jealous (in love)** tā他zǒng总xiǎng想chī吃nǚ女tóngshì同事de的dòufu豆腐。 He’s always trying to take liberties with the women he works with. 吃豆腐 chī dòufu · “eat tofu”: **to take liberties with someone, to grope** tāmen他们liǎ俩tiāntiān天天zài在wǎngshang网上sǎgǒuliáng撒狗粮。 Those two show off their love online every day. 狗粮 gǒuliáng · “dog food”: **a couple’s show of love that singles have to watch** tā他méiyǒu没有gōngzuò工作，yīzhí一直zài在chīruǎnfàn吃软饭。 He has no job and lives off his girlfriend. 吃软饭 chī ruǎnfàn · “eat soft rice”: **to live off a partner (said of a man)** ## 炒鱿鱼 · 铁饭碗 · 吃老本 · 喝西北风: work and money A job is a rice bowl, losing it is a dish of squid, and when the money runs out there is only the wind to drink. tā他shànggèyuè上个月bèi被lǎobǎn老板chǎoyóuyú炒鱿鱼le了。 His boss fired him last month. 炒鱿鱼 chǎo yóuyú · “stir-fry squid”: **to fire someone** hěn很duō多rén人juéde觉得dāng当gōngwùyuán公务员shì是tiěfànwǎn铁饭碗。 Many people see a government job as a job for life. 铁饭碗 tiěfànwǎn · “iron rice bowl”: **a secure job for life** tā他zhè这jǐ几nián年yīzhí一直zài在chīlǎoběn吃老本。 He’s been living off his past success for years. 吃老本 chī lǎoběn · “eat your old capital”: **to live off past success** zài再bù不zhǎo找gōngzuò工作，wǒmen我们jiùyào就要hēxīběifēng喝西北风le了。 If we don’t find work soon, we’ll have nothing to eat. 喝西北风 hē xīběifēng · “drink the north-west wind”: **to have nothing to eat** ## 小菜一碟 · 吃苦 · 吃亏 · 吃香 · 吃不消: easy and hard Easy is a small side dish; hard is eaten too: bitterness, a loss, more than you can digest. zhè这diǎnr点儿shì事duì对tā他lái来shuō说shì是xiǎocài-yīdié小菜一碟。 This is a piece of cake for him. 小菜一碟 xiǎocài yī dié · “a small side dish”: **a piece of cake** tā她hěn很néng能chīkǔ吃苦。 She can take a lot of hardship. 吃苦 chīkǔ · “eat bitterness”: **to put up with hardship** lǎoshirén老实人chángcháng常常chīkuī吃亏。 Honest people often lose out. 吃亏 chīkuī · “eat a loss”: **to lose out, to get the worst of it** huì会shuō说Zhōngwén中文de的rén人xiànzài现在hěn很chīxiāng吃香。 People who speak Chinese are in demand now. 吃香 chīxiāng · “eat fragrant”: **to be popular, in demand** měitiān每天gōngzuò工作shí’èr十二gè个xiǎoshí小时，shéi谁dōu都chībuxiāo吃不消。 Nobody can take twelve-hour days. 吃不消 chībuxiāo · “can’t digest it”: **to be too much to bear** ## 吃瓜 · 画饼 · 炒冷饭 · 背黑锅 · 吃闭门羹 · 吃货: gossip, blame and empty promises Onlookers eat melon, bosses draw cakes, old stories are cold rice fried again, and the blame is a black wok on someone’s back. wǎngyǒu网友men们dōu都zài在chīguā吃瓜。 Everyone online is watching the drama. 吃瓜 chīguā · “eat melon”: **to watch drama unfold as a bystander** lǎobǎn老板yòu又zài在gěi给wǒmen我们huàbǐng画饼le了。 The boss is making empty promises again. 画饼 huàbǐng · “draw a cake”: **to make empty promises** zhè这bù部diànyǐng电影jiùshì就是zài在chǎolěngfàn炒冷饭。 This film is just a rehash. 炒冷饭 chǎo lěngfàn · “fry cold rice”: **to rehash old material** míngmíng明明shì是tā他de的cuò错，què却ràng让wǒ我bēihēiguō背黑锅。 It was clearly his fault, but I took the blame. 背黑锅 bēi hēiguō · “carry a black wok on your back”: **to take the blame for someone else** wǒ我qù去zhǎo找tā他，jiéguǒ结果chī吃le了bìméngēng闭门羹。 I went to see him and was turned away at the door. 吃闭门羹 chī bìméngēng · “eat closed-door soup”: **to be turned away at the door** wǒ我shì是gè个chīhuò吃货，dào到nǎr哪儿dōu都xiān先zhǎo找hǎochī好吃de的。 I’m a foodie: wherever I go, I find the good food first. 吃货 chīhuò · “an eater”: **a foodie** ## Now read them in a real story [**怎么点菜？**How to order food in a Chinese restaurantHSK 1 · 1 minRead it free](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/how-to-order-food-in-a-chinese-restaurant) ## What does 吃豆腐 mean? 吃豆腐 (chī dòufu), “to eat tofu”, means to take liberties with someone: to flirt with or touch them when they don’t want it, mostly said of a man with a woman. 别吃我豆腐！ is “Hands off!”, and it is often said half in jest, softer than “harassment” in English. An older meaning is taking advantage of someone at all. Stories of where it comes from tell of a tofu shop whose owner flirted with her customers, but no one knows if they are true. ## What does 吃醋 mean? 吃醋 (chīcù), “to eat vinegar”, is to be jealous in love: 你吃醋了？ is “Are you jealous?”. 醋 alone can mean that jealousy too. ## What does 炒鱿鱼 mean? 炒鱿鱼 (chǎo yóuyú), “to stir-fry squid”, is to fire someone from a job: 我被炒鱿鱼了 is “I got fired”. It is colloquial, like “got the sack”. ## Does 吃 always mean eat? No. 吃 also means to take, suffer or live on, so many of these sayings are not about food at all: 吃亏 (lose out), 吃苦 (put up with hardship), 吃老本 (live off past success), 吃惊 (be startled) and 吃力 (be hard work). ## Can’t hear it? Play uses your device’s Mandarin voice. Edge, Chrome and Safari have one; a browser with none plays each word in our recorded voice instead. ## More free tools - [Chinese slang](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-slang) - [Chinese idioms by theme](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-idioms) - [Chinese food names](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-food-names) - [Chinese synonyms](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-synonyms) Sentences and English ours; meanings from our own dictionary; pinyin from our own reader.