不见棺材不落泪 in English bu4 jian4 guan1 cai5 bu4 luo4 lei4 Meaning

Meanings

  • literally (word for word) not to shed a tear until one sees the coffin (idiomatic expression)
  • metaphorically refuse to be convinced until one is faced with grim reality

Simplified Characters

不 见 棺 材 不 落 泪

Traditional Characters

不 見 棺 材 不 落 淚

Pinyin

bu4 jian4 guan1 cai5 bu4 luo4 lei4

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

不bu4(negative prefix) 见jian4to see 棺guan1coffin 材cai2material 不bu4(negative prefix) 落luo4to leave out 泪lei4tears