‘见破阿老婶把嘴’

‘见破阿老婶把嘴’ is a Teochew proverb.This sentence is often used to condemn and satirize those who make alarmist remarks and exaggerate facts.’见破’means Debunked.’阿老婶’ always means old women.’把嘴’refers to a person’s speaking style, usually derogatory, exaggerated or untrue, or poor moral character.

‘见破阿老婶把嘴’,Follow the recording below to practice pronunciation:

Stolen a one-pound chicken

Once upon a time, there was a poor man who had no rice at home and was so hungry that his stomach growled. One day, he saw a half-grown chicken of his neighbor’s aunt pecking on the ground and walked into his house. The poor man was so hungry that he secretly hid the chicken and prepared to kill it at night to satisfy his appetite.

Why did a chicken weighing one-pound suddenly become five-pound?

In the afternoon, I heard the neighbor’s old lady yelling outside. She asked everyone she met, saying that her big chicken weighing five or six kilograms was stolen, which made the whole village panic.

Everyone was busy looking for their own chickens and felt sorry for the old lady: “The thief has no conscience and will definitely get his comeuppance.”

However, the chicken thief who stayed at home became more and more angry as he listened. It was clearly a chicken weighing less than one pound, but it was said to be a big rooster weighing five or six pounds.

Why five pounds?

In a rage, he simply grabbed the chick and walked out to question the old woman in public: “Look, you clearly lost a chick, how can you say it weighs five or six pounds? ‘见破阿老婶把嘴'(Exaggeration, irrelevant speech)!” Although the old lady got the chick, she also lost face.

Since then, this proverb has been interpreted and used to condemn and satirize those who exaggerate and exaggerate facts.