metamorphosis - a refined, elegant handsome young man into an old grey-haired man

 

We, Teochew people, have a commonly used idiom, which is called guang3 êng7 ghe2 慣用語。

ke3si5 sio2sêng1 di6 ， deng2si5 lao5 bêh8 ciu1

去時小生弟，轉時留白鬚。｜去时小生弟，转时留白须。

 Before understanding the meaning of this commonly used idiom, we have to learn a few new Teochew words.

ke3si5 去時｜去时	the period of leaving, at that time	離開的時候｜离开的时候
sio2sêng1 小生	refine, polish, elegant, graceful, handsome	xiu4qi5 秀氣｜秀气 wen2ya3 文雅
deng2si5 轉時｜转时	the period of returning, now	回來的時候｜回来的时候
lao5 ciu1 留鬚｜留须	to grow a beard	liu2 hu2zi5 留鬍子｜留胡子

And the meaning of the commonly used idiom is:

Was a refined, elegant handsome young man at that time of departure, and now returning with a white beard.

The given Mandarin translation is:

當時出國的小伙子，現在返鄉已白髮蒼蒼了。

At that time of going overseas, one was a young man, now returning to one’s hometown one has already turned into an old grey-haired man.

 Do take note of the differences between the two languages, Teochew and Mandarin.

ke3si5 去時｜去时	at that time	dang1shi2 當時｜当时
ciu1 鬚｜须	beard	hu2zi5 鬍子｜胡子
sio2sêng1 di6 小生弟	a young man, youngster	xiao3huo3zi5 小伙子
deng2si5 轉時｜转时	now, at the present moment	xian4zai4 現在｜现在
lao5 bêh8 ciu1 留白鬚｜留白须	grown a white beard	liu2 bai2 hu2zi5 留白鬍子｜留白胡子

Teochew and Mandarin, these two languages, have different roots. 

Modern Teochew has imported whole scale words from Mandarin because the people have resigned to a cultural genocide of losing its language and thus has lost its ability to evolve with the times. 

I find this rather sad!