攑頭三尺有神明

Chinese
to look up; to raise one's head three
 
a Chinese foot (M); one-third of a metre; a ruler
a Chinese foot (M); one-third of a metre; a ruler; a note musical note on traditional Chinese scale
 
to have; there is; there are
to have; there is; there are; to exist; to be
 deity; god
trad. (攑頭三尺有神明) 攑頭 三 尺 有 神明
simp. (𫽥头三尺有神明) 𫽥头 三 尺 有 神明
alternative forms 揭頭三尺有神明／揭头三尺有神明
Literally: “There are gods three feet above your head”.

Pronunciation

  • Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): kia̍h thâu saⁿ chhioh ū sîn-bêng / ka̍h thâu saⁿ chhioh ǔ sîn-bêng / gia̍h thâu saⁿ chhioh ū sîn-bêng
  • Southern Min
    • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
      • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kia̍h thâu saⁿ chhioh ū sîn-bêng
      • Tâi-lô: kia̍h thâu sann tshioh ū sîn-bîng
      • Phofsit Daibuun: kiah taau svaf chioiq u sinbeeng
      • IPA (Zhangzhou): /kia(ʔ)¹²¹⁻²¹ tʰau¹³ sã⁴⁴⁻²² t͡sʰioʔ³² u²²⁻²¹ sin¹³⁻²² biɪŋ¹³/
      • IPA (Xiamen): /kia(ʔ)⁴⁻²¹ tʰau²⁴ sã⁴⁴⁻²² t͡sʰioʔ³² u²²⁻²¹ sin²⁴⁻²² biɪŋ²⁴/
    • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
      • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ka̍h thâu saⁿ chhioh ǔ sîn-bêng
      • Tâi-lô: ka̍h thâu sann tshioh ǔ sîn-bîng
      • IPA (Quanzhou): /ka(ʔ)²⁴⁻² tʰau²⁴ sã³³ t͡sʰioʔ⁵ u²² sin²⁴⁻²² biɪŋ²⁴/
    • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
      • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: gia̍h thâu saⁿ chhioh ū sîn-bêng
      • Tâi-lô: gia̍h thâu sann tshioh ū sîn-bîng
      • Phofsit Daibuun: giah taau svaf chioiq u sinbeeng
      • IPA (Kaohsiung): /ɡia(ʔ)⁴⁻²¹ tʰau²³ sã⁴⁴⁻³³ t͡sʰiɤʔ³² u³³⁻²¹ sin²³⁻³³ biɪŋ²³/
      • IPA (Taipei): /ɡia(ʔ)⁴⁻¹¹ tʰau²⁴ sã⁴⁴⁻³³ t͡sʰioʔ³² u³³⁻¹¹ sin²⁴⁻¹¹ biɪŋ²⁴/

Idiom

攑頭三尺有神明

  1. (Hokkien) The gods are watching, so don't think you can get away with anything.

Synonyms
Dialectal synonyms of 舉頭三尺有神明 (“The gods are watching from above.”) [map]
Variety Location Words
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 舉頭三尺有神明
Mandarin Taiwan 舉頭三尺有神明
Cantonese Hong Kong 舉頭三尺有神明
Southern Min Xiamen 攑頭三尺有神明
Quanzhou 攑頭三尺有神明
Zhangzhou 攑頭三尺有神明
Tainan 攑頭三尺有神明

References
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