尾大不掉
Chinese
| tail | big; great; huge big; great; huge; large; major; wide; deep; oldest; eldest; doctor |
not; no | to drop; to fall | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| simp. and trad. (尾大不掉) |
尾 | 大 | 不 | 掉 | |
Etymology
From Zuo Zhuan:
- 末大必折，尾大不掉，君所知也。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad. and simp.]
- From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4th century BCE
- Mòdàbìzhé, wěidàbùdiào, jūn suǒ zhī yě. [Pinyin]
- (please add an English translation of this usage example)
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- Cantonese (Jyutping): mei5 daai6 bat1 diu6
- Southern Min (Teochew, Peng'im): bhuê2 dai6 bug4 diao7
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin: wěidàbùdiào [Phonetic: wěidàbúdiào]
- Zhuyin: ㄨㄟˇ ㄉㄚˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄉㄧㄠˋ
- Tongyong Pinyin: wěidàbùdiào
- Wade–Giles: wei3-ta4-pu4-tiao4
- Yale: wěi-dà-bù-dyàu
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: woeidahbudiaw
- Palladius: вэйдабудяо (vɛjdabudjao)
- Sinological IPA (key): /weɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ tä⁵¹ pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ ti̯ɑʊ̯⁵¹/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: mei5 daai6 bat1 diu6
- Yale: méih daaih bāt diuh
- Cantonese Pinyin: mei5 daai6 bat7 diu6
- Guangdong Romanization: méi5 dai6 bed1 diu6
- Sinological IPA (key): /mei̯¹³ taːi̯²² pɐt̚⁵ tiːu̯²²/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Southern Min
- (Teochew)
- Peng'im: bhuê2 dai6 bug4 diao7
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: bué tăi puk tiāu
- Sinological IPA (key): /bue⁵²⁻³⁵ tai³⁵⁻¹¹ puk̚²⁻⁴ tiau¹¹/
- (Teochew)
Idiom
尾大不掉
- a subordinate becomes too powerful for their superior to control