蝌蝌啃蠟

See also: 蝌蝌啃蜡

Chinese

			to gnaw; to nibble; to bite	candle; wax
trad. (蝌蝌啃蠟)	蝌	蝌	啃	蠟
simp. (蝌蝌啃蜡)	蝌	蝌	啃	蜡
alternative forms	蝌蝌齦蠟／蝌蝌龈蜡
Literally: “tadpole chews wax”.

Etymology

Phono-semantic matching of English Coca-Cola. This is said to be one of the very first names for Coca-Cola used in China,^[1] but some identify it as a false rumor.^[2]

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): Kēkēkěnlà

(Zhuyin): ㄎㄜㄎㄜㄎㄣˇ ㄌㄚˋ

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: Kēkēkěnlà
  - Zhuyin: ㄎㄜㄎㄜㄎㄣˇ ㄌㄚˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: Kekekěnlà
  - Wade–Giles: Kʻo¹-kʻo¹-kʻên³-la⁴
  - Yale: Kē-kē-kěn-là
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Kekekeenlah
  - Palladius: Кэкэкэньла (Kɛkɛkɛnʹla)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰɤ⁵⁵ kʰɤ⁵⁵ kʰən²¹⁴⁻²¹ lä⁵¹/

Proper noun

蝌蝌啃蠟

(obsolete) Coca-Cola

Synonyms

可口可樂／可口可乐 (Kěkǒukělè)

References

^
2018 September 18 (last accessed), ““可口可乐”—— 中文翻译的经典之作”, in 可口可乐‎^[1], archived from the original on 18 September 2018:
^
2018 July 25, xiao, “可口可乐中文译名的传说与事实”, in ShareAmerica‎^[2], archived from the original on 3 July 2022:

[1] 
2018 September 18 (last accessed), ““可口可乐”—— 中文翻译的经典之作”, in 可口可乐‎^[1], archived from the original on 18 September 2018:

[2] 
2018 July 25, xiao, “可口可乐中文译名的传说与事实”, in ShareAmerica‎^[2], archived from the original on 3 July 2022:

[1]

[2]