大魚吃小魚，小魚吃蝦米

See also: 大鱼吃小鱼，小鱼吃虾米

Chinese

		big fish	eat; eradicate; destroy eat; eradicate; destroy; receive; stammer	small fish		small fish	eat; eradicate; destroy eat; eradicate; destroy; receive; stammer	dried and shelled small shrimp; small shrimp
trad. (大魚吃小魚，小魚吃蝦米)		大魚	吃	小魚	，	小魚	吃	蝦米
simp. (大鱼吃小鱼，小鱼吃虾米)		大鱼	吃	小鱼	，	小鱼	吃	虾米
Literally: “The big fish eat the little fish, and the little fish eat small shrimps.”

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): dàyú chī xiǎoyú, xiǎoyú chī xiāmi

  (Zhuyin): ㄉㄚˋ ㄩˊ ㄔ ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄩˊ , ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄩˊ ㄔ ㄒㄧㄚ ˙ㄇㄧ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: dàyú chī xiǎoyú, xiǎoyú chī xiāmi
    • Zhuyin: ㄉㄚˋ ㄩˊ ㄔ ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄩˊ , ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄩˊ ㄔ ㄒㄧㄚ ˙ㄇㄧ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: dàyú chih siǎoyú, siǎoyú chih siami̊
    • Wade–Giles: ta⁴-yü² chʻih¹ hsiao³-yü², hsiao³-yü² chʻih¹ hsia¹-mi⁵
    • Yale: dà-yú chr̄ syǎu-yú-, syǎu-yú chr̄ syā-mi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: dahyu chy sheauyu, sheauyu chy shia.mi
    • Palladius: даюй чи сяоюй, сяоюй чи сями (dajuj či sjaojuj, sjaojuj či sjami)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tä⁵¹ y³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰʐ̩⁵⁵ ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ y³⁵ ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ y³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰʐ̩⁵⁵ ɕi̯ä⁵⁵ mi²/

Proverb

大魚吃小魚，小魚吃蝦米

1. The weak are the prey of the strong; might makes right

   大魚吃小魚，小魚吃蝦米，蝦米吃爛泥。 [MSC, trad.]
   大鱼吃小鱼，小鱼吃虾米，虾米吃烂泥。 [MSC, simp.]

   Dà yú chī xiǎo yú, xiǎo yú chī xiāmi, xiāmi chī lànní. [Pinyin]

   The big fish eat the little fish, the little fish eat small shrimps, and the shrimps eat sludge.

Derived terms

• 大魚吃小魚／大鱼吃小鱼 (dà yú chī xiǎo yú)

 

See also

• Thai: ปลาใหญ่กินปลาเล็ก