火燒旗杆——長嘆
Chinese
[edit]fire; angry; fierce fire; angry; fierce; fiery; thriving |
to burn; to cook; to stew to burn; to cook; to stew; to bake; to roast; fever |
flagpole; flagstaff | long; length; forever long; length; forever; always; constantly; chief; head; elder; to grow; to develop |
to sigh; (Cantonese) to enjoy | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (火燒旗杆——長嘆/火燒旗桿——長嘆/火燒旗杆——長歎/火燒旗桿——長歎) | 火 | 燒 | 旗杆/旗桿 | —— | 長 | 嘆/歎 | |
| simp. (火烧旗杆——长叹) | 火 | 烧 | 旗杆 | —— | 长 | 叹 | |
| Literally: “when fire burns a flagpole - a long piece of charcoal”. | |||||||
Etymology
[edit]A wooden flagpole after being burnt is a long piece of charcoal (長炭 / 长炭 (coeng4 taan3)), which is homophonic pun on 長嘆 / 长叹 (coeng4 taan3).
嘆 / 叹 (taan3) can mean "sigh" or "to enjoy" in Cantonese.
Pronunciation
[edit]- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: fo2 siu1 kei4 gon1, coeng4 taan3
- Yale: fó sīu kèih gōn, chèuhng taan
- Cantonese Pinyin: fo2 siu1 kei4 gon1, tsoeng4 taan3
- Guangdong Romanization: fo2 xiu1 kéi4 gon1, cêng4 tan3
- Sinological IPA (key): /fɔː³⁵ siːu̯⁵⁵ kʰei̯²¹ kɔːn⁵⁵ t͡sʰœːŋ²¹ tʰaːn³³/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
Idiom
[edit]火燒旗杆——長嘆
- (Cantonese) to have a long sigh (because of helplessness, etc.)
- (Cantonese) to enjoy life for a long time