無厘頭

See also: 无厘头

Chinese

		not have	one thousandth	head; (noun suffix)
trad. (無厘頭)		無	厘	頭
simp. (无厘头)		无	厘	头

Etymology

Cantonese.

From the Cantonese colloquialism 莫釐頭尻／莫釐头尻 (“not distinguish head and tail”).

Alternatively, from 無／无 (mou4, “not have”) + 來頭／来头 (loi4 tau4, “reason; cause”).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): wúlítóu

  (Zhuyin): ㄨˊ ㄌㄧˊ ㄊㄡˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): mou⁴ lei⁴ tau⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wúlítóu
    • Zhuyin: ㄨˊ ㄌㄧˊ ㄊㄡˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wúlítóu
    • Wade–Giles: wu²-li²-tʻou²
    • Yale: wú-lí-tóu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wulitour
    • Palladius: улитоу (ulitou)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /u³⁵ li³⁵ tʰoʊ̯³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: mou⁴ lei⁴ tau⁴
    • Yale: mòuh lèih tàuh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: mou⁴ lei⁴ tau⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: mou⁴ léi⁴ teo⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mou̯²¹ lei̯²¹ tʰɐu̯²¹/

Adjective

無厘頭

1. (Cantonese or dialectal) nonsensical; whimsical; capricious; inexplicable (of behavior, thinking, performance, etc.)

Noun

無厘頭

1. mo lei tau (a type of late 20th century Hong Kongnese humor)