Lingaku- lit. drink the northwest wind (idiom); cold and hungry
Generated definitions (experimental)
- cold and hungry
This idiom figuratively expresses a situation where someone is very poor or facing extreme hardship, often implying that they are unable to afford basic necessities.
tā他de的jiā tíng家庭fēi cháng非常pín kùn贫困，yǐ jīng已经hǎo jǐ好几tiān天méi没chī fàn吃饭le了，zhēn shi真是hē xī běi fēng喝西北风。
His family is very poor and hasn't eaten for several days; they are truly drinking the northwest wind.
yóu yú由于shī yè失业，tā她zhǐ néng只能kào靠jiè qián借钱wéi chí shēng huó维持生活，gǎn jué感觉zì jǐ自己kuài yào快要hē xī běi fēng喝西北风le了。
Due to unemployment, she can only rely on borrowing money to get by; she feels like she is about to drink the northwest wind.
Generated collocations (experimental)
hē xī běi fēng喝西北风to be cold and hungrykào靠hē xī běi fēng喝西北风guò rì zi过日子to make a living by being destitutehē xī běi fēng喝西北风de的rì zi日子days of hardshipzhǐ hǎo只好hē xī běi fēng喝西北风only able to suffer from povertyhē xī běi fēng喝西北风de的shēng huó生活a life of povertyhē xī běi fēng喝西北风de的zī wèi滋味the taste of starvationhē xī běi fēng喝西北风de的zhuàng tài状态state of being destitute