大海撈針

See also: 大海捞针

Chinese

		ocean; sea; large bowl or wine cup	fish up	needle; pin; injection
trad. (大海撈針)		大海	撈	針
simp. (大海捞针)		大海	捞	针
Literally: “dredge up a needle from the vast ocean”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): dàhǎilāozhēn

  (Zhuyin): ㄉㄚˋ ㄏㄞˇ ㄌㄠ ㄓㄣ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): daai⁶ hoi² laau⁴ zam¹
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): tōa-hái-lô-chiam

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: dàhǎilāozhēn
    • Zhuyin: ㄉㄚˋ ㄏㄞˇ ㄌㄠ ㄓㄣ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: dàhǎilaojhen
    • Wade–Giles: ta⁴-hai³-lao¹-chên¹
    • Yale: dà-hǎi-lāu-jēn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: dahhaelhaujen
    • Palladius: дахайлаочжэнь (daxajlaočžɛnʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tä⁵¹ xaɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ lɑʊ̯⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂən⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: daai⁶ hoi² laau⁴ zam¹
    • Yale: daaih hói làauh jām
    • Cantonese Pinyin: daai⁶ hoi² laau⁴ dzam¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: dai⁶ hoi² lao⁴ zem¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /taːi̯²² hɔːi̯³⁵ laːu̯²¹ t͡sɐm⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tōa-hái-lô-chiam
    • Tâi-lô: tuā-hái-lô-tsiam
    • Phofsit Daibuun: doaxhayloiciafm
    • IPA (Xiamen): /tua²²⁻²¹ hai⁵³⁻⁴⁴ lo²⁴⁻²² t͡siam⁴⁴/

Idiom

大海撈針

1. to look for a needle in a haystack

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 大海撈針 (“to look for a needle in a haystack”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		大海撈針, 海底撈針, 水底撈針, 東海撈針
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	大海裡撈針
	Taiwan	大海撈針, 海底撈針
	Singapore	海底撈針
Cantonese	Hong Kong	大海撈針
Hakka	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	海底摸針
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	海底摸針
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	海底摸針
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	海底摸針
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	海底摸針
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	海底摸針
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	海底摸針
Southern Min	Xiamen	海底摸針, 大海摸針
	Tainan	海底摸針, 大海摸針