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有奶便是娘

Mandarin · pinyin yǒu nǎi biàn shì niáng

lit. whoever provides milk is your mother (idiom)
fig. to follow whoever is feeding you
to put one's loyalties where one's interests lie

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Characters in this entry

有: yǒu · have, own, possess; exist
奶: nǎi · milk; woman's breasts; nurse
便: biàn · convenience, ease; expedient
是: shì · indeed, yes, right; to be; demonstrative pronoun, this, that
娘: niáng · mother; young girl; woman; wife

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Mandarin tones

3–3–4–4–2 · you3 nai3 bian4 shi4 niang2

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Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jau5 naai5 bin6 si6 noeng4

Cantonese word readings for 有奶便是娘. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

proverb

One obeys those who give him money or power.

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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