Pinyin:
hē xīběifēng
Meaning:
没有东西吃，挨饿。
have nothing to eat; go hungry
Character breakdown and explanation:
喝：drink
西北：northwest
风：wind
"喝西北风" literally means to breathe the northwest wind. This phrase describes a straitened circumstance where there's nothing to eat but the wind. There are different stories attributed as the origin of this habitual phrase: one story suggests that "喝西北风" advocates the ideal state of a Taoist: living solely by breathing air; another story suggests that in China, the northwest wind is the most frigid wind during winter, breathing this wind while having nothing to eat further exacerbate the pain of hunger and cold.
Example sentences:
你一个男人不出去工作，要老婆孩子和你一起喝西北风吗？
Nǐ yí gè nánrén bù chūqu gōngzuò, yào lǎopo háizi hé nǐ yìqǐ hē xīběifēng ma?
As the breadwinner of the family you won't go out and work. Do you want your wife and children to starve?
这个项目要是拿不下来，全厂工人都得喝西北风了！
Zhège xiàngmù yàoshi ná bú xiàlai, quán chǎng gōngrén dōu děi hē xīběifēng le!
If we can't get this project, all the factory workers will go hungry.
