The story
- Hokkien · borrowed from好看無好食 /好看无好食
- English todayho kua bo ho jiak
From Hokkien 好看無好食 /好看无好食 (hó-khòaⁿ bô hó-chia̍h, literally “good to look at, not good to eat”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
ho kua bo ho jiak
Today it means: Superficial; incompetent or having no substance despite appearances, skin-deep; portraying oneself as greater than one actually is; all style and no substance. Full definition →
Hokkien 好看無好食 /好看无好食