民以食为天 (民以食為天)
mín yǐ shí wéi tiān
Pinyin
Definition
民以食为天 (民以食為天)
-
- Food is the God of the people. (idiom); People view food as the primary need.
- Food first, ethical niceties second
Character Decomposition
Related Words (20)
- 1 old variant of 以[yǐ]
- 1 today
- 2 at the present
- 3 now
- 1 after
- 2 later
- 3 afterwards
- 4 following
- 5 later on
- 6 in the future
- 1 to think (i.e. to take it to be true that ...) (Usually there is an implication that the notion is mistaken – except when expressing one's own current opinion.)
- 1 can
- 2 may
- 3 possible
- 4 able to
- 5 not bad
- 6 pretty good
Idioms (20)
一人得道,鸡犬升天
- 1 lit. when a man achieves the Dao, his poultry and dogs rise to Heaven (idiom)
- 2 fig. to ride on sb else's success
- 3 Once one man gets a government position, all his cronies get in too
- 4 Once sb has cracked the problem, every Tom, Dick and Harry can do it
一个天南,一个地北
- 1 to live miles apart (idiom)
一则以喜,一则以忧
- 1 happy on the one hand, but worried on the other (idiom)
一柱擎天
- 1 lit. to support the sky as a single pillar (idiom)
- 2 fig. to take a crucial responsibility upon one's shoulders
一步登天
- 1 reaching heaven in a single bound (idiom); (esp. with negative: don't expect) instant success
Sample Sentences
欢迎收看“天下美食”!我们的两位美食家可以说是过五关斩六将,来到今天的节目。中国有句老话,叫“民以食为天”。不过不同地区的人对吃都有自己特别的讲究。所以今天,我们就要来考考两位对中国八大菜系有多了解。来,欢迎两位!
Welcome to ''Delicacies of the World"! We can safely say that they have triumphed over many foes to come to our show today.There's an old proverb in China, ''Food is everything to people." But people from different areas all have their own ideas about food. So today we're going to test these two on their understanding of China's eight great schools of cuisine. Come on, give them a warm welcome!
民以食为天。
Everyone's got to eat.
哎!民以食为天。这天天吃饭的家伙还是得买个好的。走,咱们上网搜搜去。
Hey, rice is essential. For something you cook with every day, you'd better buy a good one. Come on, let's search online.
中国人讲究“民以食为天”,一般家里有重要的喜事就会请客,让亲戚朋友们分享好消息,顺便联络感情。不过一般只有整岁,比如10岁、20岁、50岁的生日才会大肆庆祝一番,普通的生日只是跟家人们一起小小地庆祝。我记得我10岁生日的时候好像就请了十几桌呢。