黄柏木作了磬槌子,外头体面里头苦黃柏木作了磬槌子,外頭體面裡頭苦黃柏木作了磬槌子,外頭體面裏頭苦

yellow cork wood made into a chime mallet: respectable outside, bitter inside

Saying俗语俗語

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

Meaning: Looks splendid and respectable on the surface but hides much unspoken hardship.
Wordplay: 苦 (kǔ) means both bitter in taste, as the wood is, and suffering, as in hardship.

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Simplified: 黄柏木作了磬槌子,外头体面里头苦
Traditional (Taiwan): 黃柏木作了磬槌子,外頭體面裡頭苦
Traditional (Hong Kong): 黃柏木作了磬槌子,外頭體面裏頭苦
Pinyin: huángbò mùzuò le qìng chuí zi,wàitou tǐmiàn lǐtou kǔ
Pinyin (Taiwan): huángbò mùzuò le qìng chuí zǐ,wàitou tǐmiàn lǐtou kǔ
Bopomofo: ㄏㄨㄤˊ ㄅㄛˋ ㄇㄨˋ ㄗㄨㄛˋ ˙ㄌㄜㄑㄧㄥˋ ㄔㄨㄟˊ ㄗˇ,ㄨㄞˋ ˙ㄊㄡㄊㄧˇ ㄇㄧㄢˋ ㄌㄧˇ ˙ㄊㄡㄎㄨˇ

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

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