我们家一毛钱都没有
“and my family got nothing.”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
“be fair with the money. You gave them 5,000 yuan,”
我们家 一毛钱都没有
“and my family got nothing.”
“What will the neighbors think? Am I even worse than a madwoman?”
“Stop asking me for money, because you are not getting a single cent from me.”
In Chinese family disputes over money, claiming to not have a single penny is a common defensive tactic to blunt demands from demanding relatives.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
not have a single penny / completely broke
A very common spoken exaggeration used to refuse financial requests or plead poverty.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“Now, there's not a penny left at home.”
“I just remembered, we've got nothing at home.”
“had nothing when you got married.”