啄木鸟发疟疾，嘴硬身子虚啄木鳥發瘧疾，嘴硬身子虛啄木鳥發瘧疾，嘴硬身子虛

woodpecker with malaria: hard beak, weak body

Saying俗语俗語

Two-part saying歇后语歇後語 · Rarely used now

Meaning: Said of someone who talks tough but has a weak case or no real strength behind the words. Mocking.
Wordplay: 嘴 (zuǐ) is both 'beak' and 'speech'; 硬 (yìng) is both 'hard' and 'forceful'.

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Simplified: 啄木鸟发疟疾，嘴硬身子虚
Traditional (Taiwan): 啄木鳥發瘧疾，嘴硬身子虛
Pinyin: zhuómùniǎo fā nüèjí, zuǐyìng shēnzi xū
Bopomofo: ㄓㄨㄛˊ ㄇㄨˋ ㄋㄧㄠˇ ㄈㄚㄋㄩㄝˋ ㄐㄧˊ，ㄗㄨㄟˇ ㄧㄥˋ ㄕㄣ ˙ㄗㄒㄩ

Written with HSK 7-9 vocabulary, at CEFR level C1.

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