A small silvery sea fish, a relative of the herring, about the length of your finger. Because it is so small, you cook and eat the whole thing — head, bones and all — usually fried, grilled or smoked, and often tinned. It is common in Britain and around northern Europe, and it has always been cheap food, so it carries a slightly humble, old-fashioned feeling. There is an old English saying, 'to throw a sprat to catch a mackerel' — to give away something small in the hope of getting something much bigger. That saying is the way most British people meet the word today. You will rarely need this word in Taiwan; the closest thing on a Taiwanese table is 小魚干 or 丁香魚, small whole fish eaten the same way.

西鯡、黍鯡（一種小型鯡魚，整條吃）。台灣沒有完全對應的魚，可以想成「像丁香魚／小魚干那樣整條吃的小海魚」