斬腳趾避沙蟲

Chinese

		behead; chop	toe	avoid; shun; flee avoid; shun; flee; escape; leave; to keep away; to leave; to hide	sandworm; ragworm; peanut worm
trad. (斬腳趾避沙蟲)		斬	腳趾	避	沙蟲
simp. (斩脚趾避沙虫)		斩	脚趾	避	沙虫
Literally: “to sever one's toes to avoid [having them being bitten by] sandworms”.

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zaam² goek³ zi² bei⁶ saa¹ cung^4-2 / zaam² goek³ zi² bei⁶ saa¹ cung⁴

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• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: zaam² goek³ zi² bei⁶ saa¹ cung^4-2 / zaam² goek³ zi² bei⁶ saa¹ cung⁴
    • Yale: jáam geuk jí beih sā chúng / jáam geuk jí beih sā chùhng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzaam² goek⁸ dzi² bei⁶ saa¹ tsung^4-2 / dzaam² goek⁸ dzi² bei⁶ saa¹ tsung⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: zam² gêg³ ji² béi⁶ sa¹ cung^4-2 / zam² gêg³ ji² béi⁶ sa¹ cung⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡saːm³⁵ kœːk̚³ t͡siː³⁵ pei̯²² saː⁵⁵ t͡sʰʊŋ²¹⁻³⁵/, /t͡saːm³⁵ kœːk̚³ t͡siː³⁵ pei̯²² saː⁵⁵ t͡sʰʊŋ²¹/

Idiom

斬腳趾避沙蟲

1. (Cantonese) to inappropriately solve a problem by eliminating something essential

Synonyms

• 因噎廢食／因噎废食 (yīnyēfèishí)