三好加一好

Chinese

		three	good; well; be fond of	to add; plus	one; single; a one; single; a; (before verbs) as soon as, once; (before a noun) entire (family, etc.)	good; well; be fond of
trad. (三好加一好)		三	好	加	一	好
simp. #(三好加一好)		三	好	加	一	好

Etymology

A euphemism based on tetraphobia of 四好 (sì hó, literally “4 benefits”) (since 3 + 1 = 4), a homophonic phrase in Taiwanese for 死好 (sí hó, “You deserve it”, literally “(Your) death is good”).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): sān hǎo jiā yī hǎo

  (Zhuyin): ㄙㄢ ㄏㄠˇ ㄐㄧㄚ ㄧ ㄏㄠˇ

• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): sâm hó kâ yit hó
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): saⁿ hó ke chi̍t hó

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: sān hǎo jiā yī hǎo [Phonetic: sān hǎo jiā yì hǎo]
    • Zhuyin: ㄙㄢ ㄏㄠˇ ㄐㄧㄚ ㄧ ㄏㄠˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: san hǎo jia yi hǎo
    • Wade–Giles: san¹ hao³ chia¹ i¹ hao³
    • Yale: sān hǎu jyā yī hǎu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: san hao jia i hao
    • Palladius: сань хао цзя и хао (sanʹ xao czja i xao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sän⁵⁵ xɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡ɕi̯ä⁵⁵ i⁵⁵⁻⁵¹ xɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Hakka
  • (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sâm hó kâ yit hó
    • Hakka Romanization System: sam´ ho` ga´ id` ho`
    • Hagfa Pinyim: sam<sup>1</sup> ho<sup>3</sup> ga<sup>1</sup> yid<sup>5</sup> ho<sup>3</sup>
    • Sinological IPA: /sam²⁴ ho³¹ ka²⁴ it̚² ho³¹/
  • (Southern Sixian, incl. Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sâm hó kâ yit hó
    • Hakka Romanization System: sam´ ho` ga´ (r)id` ho`
    • Hagfa Pinyim: sam¹ ho³ ga¹ yid⁵ ho³
    • Sinological IPA: /sam²⁴ ho³¹ ka²⁴ (j)it̚² ho³¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: saⁿ hó ke chi̍t hó
    • Tâi-lô: sann hó ke tsi̍t hó
    • Phofsit Daibuun: svaf hoir kef cit hoir
    • IPA (Xiamen): /sã⁴⁴⁻²² ho⁵³ ke⁴⁴⁻²² t͡sit̚⁴⁻³² ho⁵³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /sã³³ ho⁵⁵⁴ ke³³ t͡sit̚²⁴⁻² ho⁵⁵⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /sã⁴⁴⁻²² ho⁵³ ke⁴⁴⁻²² t͡sit̚¹²¹⁻²¹ ho⁵³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /sã⁴⁴⁻³³ ho⁵³ ke⁴⁴⁻³³ t͡sit̚⁴⁻³² ho⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /sã⁴⁴⁻³³ hɤ⁴¹ ke⁴⁴⁻³³ t͡sit̚⁴⁻³² hɤ⁴¹/

Phrase

三好加一好

1. (Taiwan, colloquial, derogatory, euphemistic) You deserve it.

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 活該 (“to serve someone right; to have gotten what's coming to one”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		活該
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	活該, 死好
	Harbin	活該
	Singapore	活該
Central Plains Mandarin	Luoyang	活該
	Xi'an	活該
Cantonese	Guangzhou	抵死
	Hong Kong	抵死
	Taishan	抵死
Hakka	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	堪該, 該死, 死該, 該暢, 堪得
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	堪該, 該死, 死該, 該暢, 堪得
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	堪該, 該死, 死該, 堪得
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	堪該, 該死, 死該, 擳胲, 堪得
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	堪該, 該死, 死該, 該暢, 堪得
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	該然, 該死, 死好
Jin	Taiyuan	活該
Northern Min	Jian'ou	該死
Southern Min	Xiamen	合該, 合該然
	Taichung	應該, 死好, 三好加一好
Wu	Ningbo	該死