倒錢落海

Chinese

		upset; turn over; to tip upset; turn over; to tip; to pour; to go home; to the contrary; inverted; to fall; to collapse; to topple; to change; to fail; bankrupt	coin; money	to fall; to drop (behind); leave behind	ocean; sea
trad. (倒錢落海)		倒	錢	落	海
simp. (倒钱落海)		倒	钱	落	海
Literally: “to pour money into the sea”.

Etymology

Popularized through an anti-gambling TV commercial by the Hong Kong government in 2005 (with the slogan quoted below).

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): dou² cin^4-2 lok⁶ hoi²

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• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: dou² cin^4-2 lok⁶ hoi²
    • Yale: dóu chín lohk hói
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dou² tsin^4-2 lok⁹ hoi²
    • Guangdong Romanization: dou² qin^4-2 log⁶ hoi²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tou̯³⁵ t͡sʰiːn²¹⁻³⁵ lɔːk̚² hɔːi̯³⁵/

Idiom

倒錢落海

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) to pour money down the drain; to squander money

   • 沉迷賭博，倒錢落海 [Cantonese, trad.]
     沉迷赌博，倒钱落海 [Cantonese, simp.]

     From: 2005, Hong Kong anti-gambling TV commercial

     cam⁴ mai⁴ dou² bok³, dou² cin⁴ lok⁶ hoi² [Jyutping]

     Excessive gambling costs more than you can afford. (literally, “Gambling addiction is like pouring money into the sea.”)

   • 在香港人口及商業用地需要下降、儲備大幅下降及結構性財赤危機下，仍強推明日大嶼交椅洲填海計劃，擔心萬億工程，倒錢落海，禍延幾代。 [MSC, trad.]
     在香港人口及商业用地需要下降、储备大幅下降及结构性财赤危机下，仍强推明日大屿交椅洲填海计划，担心万亿工程，倒钱落海，祸延几代。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 2022, Petition by Save Lantau Alliance to LegCo

     Zài Xiānggǎng rénkǒu jí shāngyè yòngdì xūyào xiàjiàng, chǔbèi dàfú xiàjiàng jí jiégòuxìng cáichì wēijī xià, réng qiǎng tuī míngrì Dàyǔ Jiāoyǐzhōu tiánhǎi jìhuà, dānxīn wànyì gōngchéng, dǎoqiánluòhǎi, huò yán jǐ dài. [Pinyin]

     [The Save Lantau Alliance] is concerned that if the government still carries out the "Lantau Tomorrow Vision" plan under decreasing population, decreasing need of commercial land use, decrease in reserves and structural deficit, this project costing billions of dollars will be a complete waste of money and would adversely affect several generations.