三不五時

Chinese

		three	not; no	five	o'clock; time; when o'clock; time; when; hour; season; period
trad. (三不五時)		三	不	五	時
simp. (三不五时)		三	不	五	时

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): sānbùwǔshí

  (Zhuyin): ㄙㄢ ㄅㄨˋ ㄨˇ ㄕˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): saam¹ bat¹ ng⁵ si⁴
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): sâm-put-ńg-sṳ̀
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): sam-put-gō͘-sî / sam-put-gǒ͘-sî

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: sānbùwǔshí
    • Zhuyin: ㄙㄢ ㄅㄨˋ ㄨˇ ㄕˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: sanbùwǔshíh
    • Wade–Giles: san¹-pu⁴-wu³-shih²
    • Yale: sān-bù-wǔ-shŕ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sanbuwuushyr
    • Palladius: саньбууши (sanʹbuuši)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sän⁵⁵ pu⁵¹ u²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʂʐ̩³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: saam¹ bat¹ ng⁵ si⁴
    • Yale: sāam bāt ńgh sìh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: saam¹ bat⁷ ng⁵ si⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: sam¹ bed¹ ng⁵ xi⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /saːm⁵⁵ pɐt̚⁵ ŋ̍¹³ siː²¹/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sâm-put-ńg-sṳ̀
    • Hakka Romanization System: sam´ bud` ng` siiˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: sam¹ bud⁵ ng³ si²
    • Sinological IPA: /sam²⁴ put̚² ŋ̍³¹ sɨ¹¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sam-put-gō͘-sî
    • Tâi-lô: sam-put-gōo-sî
    • Phofsit Daibuun: samputgoxsii
    • IPA (Xiamen): /sam⁴⁴⁻²² put̚³²⁻⁴ ɡɔ²²⁻²¹ si²⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /sam⁴⁴⁻³³ put̚³²⁻⁴ ɡɔ³³⁻²¹ si²³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /sam⁴⁴⁻³³ put̚³²⁻⁴ ɡɔ³³⁻¹¹ si²⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /sam⁴⁴⁻²² put̚³²⁻⁵ ɡɔ²²⁻²¹ si¹³/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou, Jinjiang, Philippines)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sam-put-gǒ͘-sî
    • Tâi-lô: sam-put-gǒo-sî
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /sam³³ put̚⁵⁻²⁴ ɡɔ²² si²⁴/
    • IPA (Jinjiang, Philippines): /sam³³ put̚⁵⁻²⁴ ɡɔ³³⁻²² si²⁴/

Idiom

三不五時

1. (Cantonese, Southern Min, Taiwanese Mandarin, Taiwanese Hakka) sometimes; from time to time; occasionally; now and then

   • 一杯酒　兩角銀　三不五時嘛來鬥陣 [Taiwanese Hokkien, trad.]
     一杯酒　两角银　三不五时嘛来斗阵 [Taiwanese Hokkien, simp.]

     From: 1997, 世界第一等, Andy Lau

     chi̍t poe chiú, nn̄g kak gîn, sam-put-gō͘-sî mā lâi tàu-tīn [Pe̍h-ōe-jī]

     With a bottle of wine costing [only] twenty cents, lets get together every now and then

   • 她說：「剃頭不好看；我要做菜姑。三不五時還可以去看歌仔戲、歌劇。」 [Taiwanese Mandarin, trad.]
     她说：「剃头不好看；我要做菜姑。三不五时还可以去看歌仔戏、歌剧。」 [Taiwanese Mandarin, simp.]

     From: 2005 December 20, 釋悟因, 戰後佛教在台灣——佛教面對現代挑戰的回應, in 香光莊嚴雜誌, issue 84, page 19

     Tā shuō: “Tìtóu bù hǎokàn; wǒ yào zuò càigū. Sānbùwǔshí hái kěyǐ qù kàn gēzǐxì, gējù.” [Pinyin]

     She said, "Shaving the head bald doesn't look good; I want to be a vegetarian Buddhist. From time to time I can even go see operas."

Synonyms

• 隔三差五 (gésānchàwǔ)
• (Hakka) 三不二時／三不二时

References

• “Entry #242”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2023.