好馬不吃回頭草

Chinese

good; well; be fond of horse; surname not; no
eat; eradicate; destroy
eat; eradicate; destroy; receive; stammer
 
to turn round; to turn one's head back; to repent
grass; straw; draft (of a document)
grass; straw; draft (of a document); careless; rough; manuscript; hasty
 
trad. (好馬不吃回頭草) 回頭
simp. (好马不吃回头草) 回头
Literally: “a good horse does not look back to eat grass”.

Pronunciation

  • Mandarin
    (Pinyin): hǎo mǎ bù chī huítóu cǎo
    (Zhuyin): ㄏㄠˇ ㄇㄚˇ ㄅㄨˋ ㄔ ㄏㄨㄟˊ ㄊㄡˊ ㄘㄠˇ

  • Mandarin
    • (Standard Chinese)+
      • Hanyu Pinyin: hǎo mǎ bù chī huítóu cǎo [Phonetic: háomǎbùchīhuítóucǎo]
      • Zhuyin: ㄏㄠˇ ㄇㄚˇ ㄅㄨˋ ㄔ ㄏㄨㄟˊ ㄊㄡˊ ㄘㄠˇ
      • Tongyong Pinyin: hǎo mǎ bù chih huéitóu cǎo
      • Wade–Giles: hao3 ma3 pu4 chʻih1 hui2-tʻou2 tsʻao3
      • Yale: hǎu mǎ bù chr̄ hwéi-tóu tsǎu
      • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: hao maa bu chy hweitour tsao
      • Palladius: хао ма бу чи хуэйтоу цао (xao ma bu či xuejtou cao)
      • Sinological IPA (key): /xɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ mä²¹⁴⁻²¹ pu⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʰʐ̩⁵⁵ xu̯eɪ̯³⁵ tʰoʊ̯³⁵ t͡sʰɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/

Proverb

好馬不吃回頭草

  1. a smart person does not dwell on past actions; a true man never backtracks