寸草不生

Chinese

		a unit of length	grass; straw; draft (of a document) grass; straw; draft (of a document); careless; rough; manuscript; hasty	not; no	to be born; to give birth; life to be born; to give birth; life; to grow; student; raw
trad. (寸草不生)		寸	草	不	生
simp. #(寸草不生)		寸	草	不	生
Literally: “not even an inch of grass grows”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): cùncǎobùshēng

  (Zhuyin): ㄘㄨㄣˋ ㄘㄠˇ ㄅㄨˋ ㄕㄥ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): cyun³ cou² bat¹ sang¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: cùncǎobùshēng
    • Zhuyin: ㄘㄨㄣˋ ㄘㄠˇ ㄅㄨˋ ㄕㄥ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: cùncǎobùsheng
    • Wade–Giles: tsʻun⁴-tsʻao³-pu⁴-shêng¹
    • Yale: tswùn-tsǎu-bù-shēng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tsuenntsaobusheng
    • Palladius: цуньцаобушэн (cunʹcaobušɛn)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰu̯ən⁵¹ t͡sʰɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ pu⁵¹ ʂɤŋ⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: cyun³ cou² bat¹ sang¹
    • Yale: chyun chóu bāt sāng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tsyn³ tsou² bat⁷ sang¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: qun³ cou² bed¹ seng¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰyːn³³ t͡sʰou̯³⁵ pɐt̚⁵ sɐŋ⁵⁵/

Idiom

寸草不生

1. (of land) completely barren; completely devoid of vegetation