牛頭不對馬嘴
Chinese
| ox; cow; bull | head; (noun suffix) | not; no | couple; pair; to be opposite couple; pair; to be opposite; to oppose; to face; for; to; correct (answer); to answer; to reply; to direct (towards something); right |
horse; surname | mouth | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (牛頭不對馬嘴) | 牛 | 頭 | 不 | 對 | 馬 | 嘴 | |
| simp. (牛头不对马嘴) | 牛 | 头 | 不 | 对 | 马 | 嘴 | |
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin: niútóubùduìmǎzuǐ [Phonetic: niútóubúduìmázuǐ]
- Zhuyin: ㄋㄧㄡˊ ㄊㄡˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄉㄨㄟˋ ㄇㄚˇ ㄗㄨㄟˇ
- Tongyong Pinyin: nióutóubùduèimǎzuěi
- Wade–Giles: niu2-tʻou2-pu4-tui4-ma3-tsui3
- Yale: nyóu-tóu-bù-dwèi-mǎ-dzwěi
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: nioutourbudueymaatzoei
- Palladius: нютоубудуймацзуй (njutoubudujmaczuj)
- Sinological IPA (key): /ni̯oʊ̯³⁵ tʰoʊ̯³⁵ pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ tu̯eɪ̯⁵¹ mä²¹⁴⁻³⁵ t͡su̯eɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: ngau4 tau4 bat1 deoi3 maa5 zeoi2
- Yale: ngàuh tàuh bāt deui máh jéui
- Cantonese Pinyin: ngau4 tau4 bat7 doey3 maa5 dzoey2
- Guangdong Romanization: ngeo4 teo4 bed1 dêu3 ma5 zêu2
- Sinological IPA (key): /ŋɐu̯²¹ tʰɐu̯²¹ pɐt̚⁵ tɵy̯³³ maː¹³ t͡sɵy̯³⁵/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
Idiom
牛頭不對馬嘴
- the answer is totally irrelevant to the question; a square peg cannot fit into a round hole; to be beside the point
Synonyms
Dialectal synonyms of 驢脣不對馬嘴 (“to be irrelevant or incongruous”) [map]
| Variety | Location | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Formal (Written Standard Chinese) | 驢脣不對馬嘴, 驢頭不對馬嘴, 牛頭不對馬嘴 | |
| Northeastern Mandarin | Taiwan | 牛頭不對馬嘴 |
| Central Plains Mandarin | Luoyang | 驢脣不對馬嘴 |
| Jianghuai Mandarin | Yangzhou | 六不答對 |
| Cantonese | Guangzhou | 唔挐更 |
| Hong Kong | 牛頭唔搭馬嘴, 唔挐更 | |
| Hakka | Meixian | 牛頭唔對馬嘴, 話三唔話兩, 唔對路 |
| Miaoli (N. Sixian) | 豬哥搭狗𡳞 | |
| Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian) | 豬哥搭狗𡳞 | |
| Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu) | 豬哥搭狗𡳞 | |
| Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu) | 豬哥搭狗𡳞 | |
| Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping) | 豬哥搭狗𡳞 | |
| Southern Min | Shantou | 牛頭唔對馬喙 |