1) Do you know the Hainanese saying in Chinese scripts? 人不是人 鬼不是鬼 2) Do you have a similar saying in your country? (mainland or elsewhere) mainland。the same in writing,but different in pronouncation. you have known it in 3 kinds of Chinese, but why not mandarin 3) Have you ever heard of this phrase? in China, It is well known. 4) What does this really mean, other than the literal translation? when you see someone looks so strange that no one can bear it. (appearance ) or have a terrible life not like a human, but like an animal (living level,living style ) or often do something criminal esp organized crime. (ethic) 5) Could you give me a few examples on how to use this idiom? 我们刚刚从森林里探险出来，全身泥泞，从远处看上去人不是人，鬼不是鬼。 那个人经常吸毒，搞得自己人不是人，鬼不是鬼。

人不是人 鬼不是鬼 更普遍的說法是 人不像人 鬼不像鬼 台灣客家話 人毋成人 鬼毋成鬼 台灣閩南語 人毋是人 鬼毋是鬼 形容人長相醜陋、打扮怪異或在窮困的環境中備受折磨、很落魄的景況。 例： 你最近看起來很沒精神，人不像人，鬼不像鬼，到底是怎麼了呢？(精神) 模特兒就是一個把自己搞到人不像人、鬼不像鬼的行業。 (外表) 人不像人 鬼不像鬼的教育改革 遺害了後世百年。 (狀況)