一退六二五

Chinese

		one; single; a one; single; a; (before verbs) as soon as, once; (before a noun) entire (family, etc.)	retreat; to decline; to move back retreat; to decline; to move back; to withdraw	six	two	five
trad. (一退六二五)		一	退	六	二	五
simp. #(一退六二五)		一	退	六	二	五
alternative forms		一推六二五
Literally: “push back one (column of digits) and .625”.

Etymology

Originally an abacus formula (珠算口訣) for converting between hexadecimal and decimal systems of weights, meaning 1/16 = .0625.

Pun on 退 (tuì, “push back”) → 推 (tuī, “evade”).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yī tuì liù èr wǔ

  (Zhuyin): ㄧ ㄊㄨㄟˋ ㄌㄧㄡˋ ㄦˋ ㄨˇ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yī tuì liù èr wǔ [Phonetic: yí tuì liù èr wǔ]
    • Zhuyin: ㄧ ㄊㄨㄟˋ ㄌㄧㄡˋ ㄦˋ ㄨˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yi tuèi liòu èr wǔ
    • Wade–Giles: i¹ tʻui⁴ liu⁴ êrh⁴ wu³
    • Yale: yī twèi lyòu èr wǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: i tuey liow ell wuu
    • Palladius: и туй лю эр у (i tuj lju er u)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /i⁵⁵⁻³⁵ tʰu̯eɪ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ li̯oʊ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ ˀɤɻ⁵¹ u²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/

Idiom

一退六二五

1. to evade (or deny) all responsibility