何不食肉糜 in English he2 bu4 shi2 rou4 mi2 Meaning

Meanings

  • literally (word for word) "Why don't they eat meat?" (said by Emperor Hui of Jin 晉惠帝|晋惠帝[Jin4 Hui4 di4] when told that his people didn't have enough rice to eat)
  • metaphorically (of people from higher class and so on) to be oblivious to other people's plight

Simplified Characters

何 不 食 肉 糜

Traditional Characters

何 不 食 肉 糜

Pinyin

he2 bu4 shi2 rou4 mi2

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

何he2surname He 不bu4(negative prefix) 食shi2to eat 肉rou4meat 糜mi2surname Mi