人為財死，鳥為食亡 rén wèi cái sǐ ， niǎo wèi shí wáng

fig. man will do anything in his means to become rich

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. fig. man will do anything in his means to become rich
  2. 2. lit. human beings will die for riches, just as birds will for food (idiom)

Characters

Character Meaning
人 rén HSK 1
person; people; man
為 wèi
for; because of; to
財 cái
wealth; money; property
死 sǐ HSK 4
to die; extremely; inflexible
鳥 niǎo
bird; (intensifier) damned; goddam
為 wèi
for; because of; to
食 shí HSK 5
to eat; food; animal feed
亡 wáng HSK 6
to die; deceased; to be gone