<p>喝西北风，originally as 吸风, from <a href="http://zh.wikisource.org/zh/%E8%8E%8A%E5%AD%90/%E9%80%8D%E9%81%99%E9%81%8A" rel="nofollow">《庄子·逍遥游》</a>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>藐姑射之山，有神人居焉……不食五谷，吸风饮露。</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Its original meaning is to live with just breathing the air, not eating or drinking anything else. It's a state in Tao.</p>

<p>Nowadays, in oral Chinese, 喝西北风 usually means having nothing to eat because of poverty. For example:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>他工作要是丢了，全家都得去喝西北风。</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-08-03T03:29:24.813Z
Great answer & thanks for the example sentence. Just one request if possible, why did "吸风" turn into "喝西北风"?
aelephant
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-08-03T03:35:13.213Z
@aelephant I don't know exactly how it turns. But it's not surprising since many idioms are very different from their origins, both form and meaning. In this case, one possible explanation is that the wind from northwest is cold in China, so this is more vivid, I guess.
Yu Hao
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-08-03T03:51:23.543Z
Interesting! I asked a Chinese coworker why we don't say "读万本书" instead of "读万卷书" and she told me that you can't change those set phrases! Seems like some are fixed & some are changeable afterall.
aelephant
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-08-03T03:54:50.157Z
@aelephant In the case of 喝西北风, I think it's more like evolvement, as we don't say 吸风 any more, it's just its origin in ancient Chinese.
Yu Hao
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-08-03T04:32:39.400Z
@aelephant The significance of Northwestern wind is because with the climate of mainland China (temperate monsoon climate on the east coast of a continent), in the spring warm Eastern wind blows but in the winter the stark wind comes from the Northwest. So 喝西北风 suggests 'nothing to eat in a cold day', which further strengthens the metaphor.
NS.X.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-08-03T19:30:55.020Z
@aelephant: Regarding 吸, the *ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese* suggests that it may be an [allofam](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/allofam) of 喝 due to vowel alternation. Late Han (ca. 200 AD) pronunciation of 吸 was hɨp and 喝 was həp.
Claw
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-08-13T03:18:31.260Z
@aelephant In China, the 风 always comes from 西北 in winter. Thus, 喝西北风 describe a miserable situation that a poor man has nothing in the biting cold wind. There is an phenomenon that sometimes the writer's ideal life is far from reality, then the general people will give a rather different edition. In this case, 吸风 means 不食人间烟火, i.e. to express one is noble or different from the ordinary people. But 喝西北风 express one in a very poor situation.
Eden Harder
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-08-03T02:31:52.783Z
2013-08-03T05:56:44.727Z
2013-08-03T05:56:44.727Z
Yu Hao
<p>I know of a Chinese proverb that warns against something along the lines of idleness. Translated literally into English, it would be something along the lines of "Drink the Northwestern winds."</p>

<p>What is the origin of the proverbial phrase? And what is so peculiar about the Northwestern winds of China that would have inspired this proverb?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-04T00:21:11.140Z
In Cantonese, it is 食西北風, eat instead of drink.
OmniBus
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-08-03T08:49:44.607Z
See [this](http://baike.baidu.com/view/721506.htm) Baidu article. 边云四顾浓，饥马嗅枯丛。万里八九月，一身西北风。唐·枉檐《游边》
杨以轩
<etymology>
What is the origin of the proverbial phrase, "Drink the Northwestern winds"?
# What is the origin of the proverbial phrase, "Drink the Northwestern winds"?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-08-03)

I know of a Chinese proverb that warns against something along the lines of idleness. Translated literally into English, it would be something along the lines of "Drink the Northwestern winds."

What is the origin of the proverbial phrase? And what is so peculiar about the Northwestern winds of China that would have inspired this proverb?

**Tags:** etymology

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: See [this](http://baike.baidu.com/view/721506.htm) Baidu article. 边云四顾浓，饥马嗅枯丛。万里八九月，一身西北风。唐·枉檐《游边》  
> **username_1**: In Cantonese, it is 食西北風, eat instead of drink.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2013-08-03. Score: 6

喝西北风，originally as 吸风, from [《庄子·逍遥游》](http://zh.wikisource.org/zh/%E8%8E%8A%E5%AD%90/%E9%80%8D%E9%81%99%E9%81%8A):

> 藐姑射之山，有神人居焉……不食五谷，吸风饮露。

Its original meaning is to live with just breathing the air, not eating or drinking anything else. It's a state in Tao.

Nowadays, in oral Chinese, 喝西北风 usually means having nothing to eat because of poverty. For example:

> 他工作要是丢了，全家都得去喝西北风。

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: Great answer & thanks for the example sentence. Just one request if possible, why did "吸风" turn into "喝西北风"?  
> **username_3**: @username_4 I don't know exactly how it turns. But it's not surprising since many idioms are very different from their origins, both form and meaning. In this case, one possible explanation is that the wind from northwest is cold in China, so this is more vivid, I guess.  
> **username_4**: Interesting! I asked a Chinese coworker why we don't say "读万本书" instead of "读万卷书" and she told me that you can't change those set phrases! Seems like some are fixed & some are changeable afterall.  
> **username_3**: @username_4 In the case of 喝西北风, I think it's more like evolvement, as we don't say 吸风 any more, it's just its origin in ancient Chinese.  
> **username_5**: @username_4 The significance of Northwestern wind is because with the climate of mainland China (temperate monsoon climate on the east coast of a continent), in the spring warm Eastern wind blows but in the winter the stark wind comes from the Northwest. So 喝西北风 suggests 'nothing to eat in a cold day', which further strengthens the metaphor.  
> **username_6**: @username_4: Regarding 吸, the *ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese* suggests that it may be an [allofam](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/allofam) of 喝 due to vowel alternation. Late Han (ca. 200 AD) pronunciation of 吸 was hɨp and 喝 was həp.  
> **username_7**: @username_4 In China, the 风 always comes from 西北 in winter. Thus, 喝西北风 describe a miserable situation that a poor man has nothing in the biting cold wind. There is an phenomenon that sometimes the writer's ideal life is far from reality, then the general people will give a rather different edition. In this case, 吸风 means 不食人间烟火, i.e. to express one is noble or different from the ordinary people. But 喝西北风 express one in a very poor situation.  

---

