Name winter melon and bean curd

Pinyin dōngguādòufǔ

Interpretation Suddenly met with an unforeseen event, usually a sudden, fatal event (such as a sudden natural disaster, or a man-made disaster, in short, one that kills a person).

An allusion to the old days, after the funeral, it is customary to have a thank you to friends and relatives of the vegetarian feast, which is not without winter melon, tofu and other vegetarian dishes. Later, it was used as a metaphor for unexpected disasters or accidents. There is also a ghost festival will use winter melon tofu to the ghosts to eat, and later also evolved.

"Winter melon" is big and strong, which represents toughness, and "tofu" is small and weak, which represents softness, but both of them will be broken and lose their nature if they fall on the ground. "Winter melon" and "bean curd" symbolize two completely different things that are equally unfortunate when it comes to bad luck. Therefore, when the future is uncertain, one would always say, "If there is any winter melon or bean curd, I don't know what to do" (If there are any shortcomings, I don't know what to do!), which is more or less the same as the saying of a brave man who is not going to make it.

The same, near-synonyms three long and two short, morning and evening.