爾虞我詐

Chinese

		you; thou	to deceive	I; me	crafty; dishonest; to cheat crafty; dishonest; to cheat; to defraud; to swindle
trad. (爾虞我詐)		爾	虞	我	詐
simp. (尔虞我诈)		尔	虞	我	诈

Etymology

From Zuozhuan:

盟曰：「我無爾詐，爾無我虞。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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盟曰：「我无尔诈，尔无我虞。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4^th century BCE

Méng yuē: “Wǒ wú ěr zhà, ěr wú wǒ yú.” [Pinyin]

The covenant said, “We shall not defraud you, and you shall not deceive us.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): ěryúwǒzhà

  (Zhuyin): ㄦˇ ㄩˊ ㄨㄛˇ ㄓㄚˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ji⁵ jyu⁴ ngo⁵ zaa³

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: ěryúwǒzhà
    • Zhuyin: ㄦˇ ㄩˊ ㄨㄛˇ ㄓㄚˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: ěryúwǒjhà
    • Wade–Giles: êrh³-yü²-wo³-cha⁴
    • Yale: ěr-yú-wǒ-jà
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: eelyuwoojah
    • Palladius: эрюйвочжа (erjujvočža)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀɤɻ²¹⁴⁻²¹ y³⁵ wɔ²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʈ͡ʂä⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: ji⁵ jyu⁴ ngo⁵ zaa³
    • Yale: yíh yùh ngóh ja
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ji⁵ jy⁴ ngo⁵ dzaa³
    • Guangdong Romanization: yi⁵ yu⁴ ngo⁵ za³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jiː¹³ jyː²¹ ŋɔː¹³ t͡saː³³/

Idiom

爾虞我詐

1. to cheat or deceive one another

Synonyms

• 爾詐我虞／尔诈我虞