人生来 都是欠账的
“everyone is born with debts.”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
阿妈说了
“Mom said”
人生 来 都是 欠账的
“everyone is born with debts.”
不欠钱
“If not money,”
“We all owe a debt of gratitude to life and our elders just by being alive.”
In Chinese and broader Asian cultural philosophy, life itself is often viewed through a lens of karmic balance and filial debt owed to parents and ancestors.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
people are born (this way); inherently from birth
Use when generalizing about human nature, destiny, or universal human conditions.
to owe a debt; in arrears
Often used literally for financial debt, but here used metaphorically to describe moral or spiritual obligations.
Emphasizes the categorical nature and certainty of the philosophical truth being asserted.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“Did I owe you in a past life or this one?”
“You and your family owe me this!”
“I must collect this debt today.”
“so I'd owe him a big debt.”
“I've owed him since the day I was born.”
“How did I end up owing you for a lifetime?”