見人說人話，見鬼說鬼話

Chinese

		to see; to meet; to appear 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 see; to meet; to appear; to interview	ghost; sly; crafty	to speak; to say; persuade (politically)	lie; baloney; crazy talk
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

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: jiàn rén shuō rénhuà, jiàn guǐ shuō guǐhuà
    • Zhuyin: ㄐㄧㄢˋ ㄖㄣˊ ㄕㄨㄛ ㄖㄣˊ ㄏㄨㄚˋ , ㄐㄧㄢˋ ㄍㄨㄟˇ ㄕㄨㄛ ㄍㄨㄟˇ ㄏㄨㄚˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jiàn rén shuo rénhuà, jiàn guěi shuo guěihuà
    • Wade–Giles: chien⁴ jên² shuo¹ jên²-hua⁴, chien⁴ kuei³ shuo¹ kuei³-hua⁴
    • Yale: jyàn rén shwō rén-hwà-, jyàn gwěi shwō gwěi-hwà
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jiann ren shuo renhuah, jiann goei shuo goeihuah
    • Palladius: цзянь жэнь шо жэньхуа, цзянь гуй шо гуйхуа (czjanʹ žɛnʹ šo žɛnʹxua, czjanʹ guj šo gujxua)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕi̯ɛn⁵¹ ʐən³⁵ ʂu̯ɔ⁵⁵ ʐən³⁵ xu̯ä⁵¹⁻⁵³ t͡ɕi̯ɛn⁵¹ ku̯eɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʂu̯ɔ⁵⁵ ku̯eɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ xu̯ä⁵¹/

Proverb

見人說人話，見鬼說鬼話

1. (figurative) to be flexible and know what to say in different situations and to different people; (derogatory) to be crafty and two-faced

Synonyms

• 見人講人話，見鬼講鬼話／见人讲人话，见鬼讲鬼话 (jiàn rén jiǎng rénhuà, jiàn guǐ jiǎng guǐhuà)
• (Min Nan) 食四面風，講五色話／食四面风，讲五色话