What do 開眉粥 and 愁眉飯 mean? I understand translations below on &quot;寧吃開眉粥，不吃愁眉飯&quot;. I know 粥 means congee and 飯 rice or meal. I tried look up 愁眉 - Wiktionary but meaning doesn't sense.


knitted brows


宁食开眉粥 不食愁眉饭什么意思_百度知道

liumengdie17   2011-11-12


就是说。宁可物质上一般，但是生活心态开心，而不要为了更高的物质。把自己搞的很累。最后就是人在天堂，钱在银行

「寧吃開眉粥，不吃愁買飯」的大意 | Yahoo Answers

旺來Lv 5
1 decade ago


~比喻寧願心情開朗的過窮日子，不願過充滿煩惱的富裕生活。強調精神生活的重要性。例如：王先生說對我說：「現在的工作雖然薪水少了點，但是我做得心安理得，人家說『寧吃開眉粥，不吃愁眉飯』，以前那種事，我再也不做了。

What is &quot;宁喝开眉粥 莫吃秋眉饭” Is it idiom and what is its meaning? | HiNative

“宁喝开眉粥，不吃愁眉饭”是一句谚语，意为宁可开心愉快地喝稀饭，也不要伤心愤怒地吃大餐。这句谚语告诉人们，快乐是人生的必需品，人要学会经营快乐。the most important thing is happy
開眉 implies 眉開眼笑 (happy expression)

愁眉 implies 愁眉苦臉 (sad expression)

One cup of raw rice can only make two bowls of cooked rice (飯)
One cup of raw rice can make up to eight bowls of congee (粥)
粥 is watered-down 飯
Poor families often only have enough raw rice to make congee for every member to have a full bowl of staple food
&quot;寧吃開眉粥，不吃愁眉飯&quot; literally means &quot;rather eat congee with a smiling face than eat cooked rice with a frowning face&quot;. It is a metaphor for &quot;Better  live a poor but happy life than a rich but unhappy one&quot;
(diminish the importance of material wealth)
You can use this expression to describe a situation like someone rather take a low paying job than earning money with immoral acts
Side note:
Cantonese expression: 有粥食粥，有飯食飯 = through thick and thin