見人說人話，見鬼說鬼話

Chinese
 
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 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
  • 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
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