東挪西湊

Chinese

		east	to shift; to move	west	assemble; put together; press near assemble; put together; press near; come together
trad. (東挪西湊)		東	挪	西	湊
simp. (东挪西凑)		东	挪	西	凑

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): dōngnuóxīcòu

  (Zhuyin): ㄉㄨㄥ ㄋㄨㄛˊ ㄒㄧ ㄘㄡˋ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: dōngnuóxīcòu
    • Zhuyin: ㄉㄨㄥ ㄋㄨㄛˊ ㄒㄧ ㄘㄡˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: dongnuósicòu
    • Wade–Giles: tung¹-no²-hsi¹-tsʻou⁴
    • Yale: dūng-nwó-syī-tsòu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: dongnuoshitsow
    • Palladius: дунносицоу (dunnosicou)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʊŋ⁵⁵ nu̯ɔ³⁵ ɕi⁵⁵ t͡sʰoʊ̯⁵¹/

Idiom

東挪西湊

1. borrow money from everywhere

   • 過了兩月，又近吉日，卻又欠迎親之費。六老只得東挪西湊，尋了幾件衣飾之類，往典鋪中解了幾十兩銀子，卻也不勾使用。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
     过了两月，又近吉日，却又欠迎亲之费。六老只得东挪西凑，寻了几件衣饰之类，往典铺中解了几十两银子，却也不勾使用。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     From: 1628 CE, Ling Mengchu, Slapping the Table in Amazement I

     Guò le liǎng yuè, yòu jìn jírì, què yòu qiàn yíngqīn zhī fèi. Liù lǎo zhǐdé dōngnuóxīcòu, xún le jǐ jiàn yīshì zhī lèi, wǎng diǎnpū zhōng jiě le jǐ shí liǎng yínzǐ, què yě bù gōu shǐyòng. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Synonymous

• 東挪西借／东挪西借

References

• “Entry #48772”, in 重編國語辭典修訂本 [Revised Mandarin Chinese Dictionary] (in Chinese), National Academy for Educational Research (Taiwan), 2021.