七十瓦上霜，八十不稀奇

Chinese

		seventy; 70	tile	up; on; on top up; on; on top; upon; first; previous or last; upper; higher; above; previous; to climb; to go into; to go up	frost		eighty	not; no	unusual; extraordinary; strange
trad. (七十瓦上霜，八十不稀奇)		七十	瓦	上	霜	，	八十	不	稀奇
simp. #(七十瓦上霜，八十不稀奇)		七十	瓦	上	霜	，	八十	不	稀奇
Literally: “at seventy the tiles have frost on them, [but don't worry,] eighty isn't that unusual”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): qīshí wǎ shàng shuāng, bāshí bù xīqí

  (Zhuyin): ㄑㄧ ㄕˊ ㄨㄚˇ ㄕㄤˋ ㄕㄨㄤ , ㄅㄚ ㄕˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄒㄧ ㄑㄧˊ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: qīshí wǎ shàng shuāng, bāshí bù xīqí
    • Zhuyin: ㄑㄧ ㄕˊ ㄨㄚˇ ㄕㄤˋ ㄕㄨㄤ , ㄅㄚ ㄕˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄒㄧ ㄑㄧˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: cishíh wǎ shàng shuang, bashíh bù sicí
    • Wade–Giles: chʻi¹-shih² wa³ shang⁴ shuang¹, pa¹-shih² pu⁴ hsi¹-chʻi²
    • Yale: chī-shŕ wǎ shàng shwāng-, bā-shŕ bù syī-chí
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chishyr woa shanq shuang, bashyr bu shichyi
    • Palladius: циши ва шан шуан, баши бу сици (ciši va šan šuan, baši bu sici)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕʰi⁵⁵ ʂʐ̩³⁵ wä²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʂɑŋ⁵¹ ʂu̯ɑŋ⁵⁵ pä⁵⁵ ʂʐ̩³⁵ pu⁵¹ ɕi⁵⁵ t͡ɕʰi³⁵/

Idiom

七十瓦上霜，八十不稀奇

1. despite signs of aging, there's still life left to live

See also

• 古稀 (gǔxī)
• 人生七十古來稀／人生七十古来稀 (rénshēng qīshí gǔlái xī)