倚馬可待

Chinese

		to lean on; rely upon	horse; surname	to be about to happen; about to; on the point of to be about to happen; about to; on the point of; going to; soon; at hand; around the corner
trad. (倚馬可待)		倚	馬	可待
simp. (倚马可待)		倚	马	可待

Etymology

During the Jin Dynasty, General Huan Wen ordered his record-keeper, Yuan Hong, to write an official document. Yuan, while propped against the front of his horse, managed to fill seven pages with remarkable speed.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yǐmǎkědài

  (Zhuyin): ㄧˇ ㄇㄚˇ ㄎㄜˇ ㄉㄞˋ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yǐmǎkědài [Phonetic: yímákědài]
    • Zhuyin: ㄧˇ ㄇㄚˇ ㄎㄜˇ ㄉㄞˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yǐmǎkědài
    • Wade–Giles: i³-ma³-kʻo³-tai⁴
    • Yale: yǐ-mǎ-kě-dài
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yiimaakeeday
    • Palladius: имакэдай (imakɛdaj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /i²¹⁴⁻³⁵ mä²¹⁴⁻³⁵ kʰɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹ taɪ̯⁵¹/

Idiom

倚馬可待

1. a writer's ability to write an article very quickly