書呆子

Chinese

		book; letter	stupid person; simpleton; fool stupid person; simpleton; fool; idiot
trad. (書呆子/書獃子)		書	呆子/獃子
simp. (书呆子)		书	呆子

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shūdāizi

  (Zhuyin): ㄕㄨ ㄉㄞ ˙ㄗ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): syu¹ daai¹ zi²

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: shūdāizi
    • Zhuyin: ㄕㄨ ㄉㄞ ˙ㄗ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: shudaizi̊h
    • Wade–Giles: shu¹-tai¹-tzŭ⁵
    • Yale: shū-dāi-dz
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shudai.tzy
    • Palladius: шудайцзы (šudajczy)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂu⁵⁵ taɪ̯⁵⁵ d͡z̥z̩²/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: syu¹ daai¹ zi²
    • Yale: syū dāai jí
    • Cantonese Pinyin: sy¹ daai¹ dzi²
    • Guangdong Romanization: xu¹ dai¹ ji²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /syː⁵⁵ taːi̯⁵⁵ t͡siː³⁵/

Noun

書呆子

1. (derogatory) book nerd; pedant

Usage notes

Often mistranslated as the neutral bookworm, 書呆子／书呆子 (shūdāizi) carries the negative connotation of someone who buries their head in books and is unable to engage with the wider world.

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 書呆子 (“book nerd; pedant (derogatory)”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		書呆子
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	書呆子
Jiaoliao Mandarin	Yantai (Muping)	書呆子
Gan	Lichuan	書呆子, 書恛子
Huizhou	Jixi	書呆子
Southern Min	Kaohsiung	書呆
	Yilan	書呆
	Changhua (Lukang)	書呆
	Taichung	書呆
	Taichung (Wuqi)	書癲
	Tainan	書呆
	Taitung	書呆
	Hsinchu	書癲
	Penghu (Magong)	書呆
Wu	Shanghai	書踱頭
	Shanghai (Zhoupu, Pudong)	書踱頭
	Shanghai (Shuangcaodun, Baoshan)	書踱頭
	Shanghai (Luodian, Baoshan)	書踱頭
	Shanghai (Chongming)	書踱頭
	Suzhou	書踱頭
	Suzhou (Lili, Wujiang)	書踱頭
	Suzhou (Shengze, Wujiang)	書踱頭
	Wuxi	書踱頭
	Changzhou	書踱頭
	Yixing	書踱頭
	Danyang	書獃屄
	Jiangyin	書踱頭
	Huzhou (Shuanglin)	書踱頭
	Hangzhou	書踱頭
	Shaoxing	書踱頭
	Ningbo	書踱頭, 書大糊
	Yuyao	書踱頭
	Taizhou (Huangyan)	書腐
	Jinhua	書夫
	Yongkang	書腐
Xiang	Changsha	書憨寶, 書憨子
	Loudi	書呆子

Related terms

• 書蟲／书虫 (shūchóng)