守賊一暝，做賊一更

Chinese

		to guard	thief	one; single; a one; single; a; (before verbs) as soon as, once; (before a noun) entire (family, etc.)	(Southern Min) night		to do; to make; to produce	thief	one; single; a one; single; a; (before verbs) as soon as, once; (before a noun) entire (family, etc.)	one of the five two-hour periods into which the night was formerly divided
trad. (守賊一暝，做賊一更)		守	賊	一	暝	，	做	賊	一	更
simp. (守贼一暝，做贼一更)		守	贼	一	暝	，	做	贼	一	更
Literally: “one night to guard against thieves, two hours to be a thief”.

Pronunciation

• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): chiú-chha̍t-chi̍t-mî, chòe-chha̍t-chi̍t-kiⁿ / chiú-chha̍t-chi̍t-mêe, chò-chha̍t-chi̍t-keⁿ

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• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chiú-chha̍t-chi̍t-mî, chòe-chha̍t-chi̍t-kiⁿ
    • Tâi-lô: tsiú-tsha̍t-tsi̍t-mî, tsuè-tsha̍t-tsi̍t-kinn
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /t͡siu⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ t͡sʰat̚²⁴⁻² t͡sit̚²⁴⁻² mĩ²⁴ t͡sue⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ t͡sʰat̚²⁴⁻² t͡sit̚²⁴⁻² kĩ³³/
    • IPA (Xiamen): /t͡siu⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡sʰat̚⁴⁻³² t͡sit̚⁴⁻³² mĩ²⁴ t͡sue²¹⁻⁵³ t͡sʰat̚⁴⁻³² t͡sit̚⁴⁻³² kĩ⁴⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chiú-chha̍t-chi̍t-mêe, chò-chha̍t-chi̍t-keⁿ
    • Tâi-lô: tsiú-tsha̍t-tsi̍t-mêe, tsò-tsha̍t-tsi̍t-kenn
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /t͡siu⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡sʰat̚¹²¹⁻²¹ t͡sit̚¹²¹⁻²¹ mɛ̃¹³ t͡so²¹⁻⁵³ t͡sʰat̚¹²¹⁻²¹ t͡sit̚¹²¹⁻²¹ kɛ̃⁴⁴/

Idiom

守賊一暝，做賊一更

1. (Hokkien) impossible to defend effectively; hard to guard against