瘦死的駱駝比馬大

Chinese

		tight; thin; lean	to die; impassable; uncrossable to die; impassable; uncrossable; inflexible; rigid	really and truly; aim; clear really and truly; aim; clear; (possessive, modifying, or descriptive particle); of	camel	side by side; compare; to gesture side by side; compare; to gesture; than; ratio	horse; surname	big; great; huge big; great; huge; large; major; wide; deep; oldest; eldest; doctor
trad. (瘦死的駱駝比馬大)		瘦	死	的	駱駝	比	馬	大
simp. (瘦死的骆驼比马大)		瘦	死	的	骆驼	比	马	大
alternative forms		餓死的駱駝比馬大／饿死的骆驼比马大
Literally: “a camel starved to death is (still) bigger than a (living) horse”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shòu sǐ de luòtuo bǐ mǎ dà

  (Zhuyin): ㄕㄡˋ ㄙˇ ˙ㄉㄜ ㄌㄨㄛˋ ˙ㄊㄨㄛ ㄅㄧˇ ㄇㄚˇ ㄉㄚˋ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: shòu sǐ de luòtuo bǐ mǎ dà [Phonetic: shòusǐdeluòtuobímǎdà]
    • Zhuyin: ㄕㄡˋ ㄙˇ ˙ㄉㄜ ㄌㄨㄛˋ ˙ㄊㄨㄛ ㄅㄧˇ ㄇㄚˇ ㄉㄚˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: shòu sǐh de̊ luòtuo̊ bǐ mǎ dà
    • Wade–Giles: shou⁴ ssŭ³ tê⁵ lo⁴-tʻo⁵ pi³ ma³ ta⁴
    • Yale: shòu sž de lwò-two bǐ mǎ dà
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: show syy .de luoh.tuo bii maa dah
    • Palladius: шоу сы дэ лото би ма да (šou sy dɛ loto bi ma da)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂoʊ̯⁵¹ sz̩²¹⁴ d̥ə⁴ lu̯ɔ⁵¹ tʰu̯ɔ¹ pi²¹⁴⁻³⁵ mä²¹⁴⁻²¹ tä⁵¹/

Proverb

瘦死的駱駝比馬大

1. (figurative) Although a rich family has become less rich than previous, they are still richer than a poor family.

   • 噯，我也是知道艱難的。但俗語說的：『瘦死的駱駝比馬大』，憑他怎樣，你老拔根寒毛比我們的腰還粗呢！ [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
     嗳，我也是知道艰难的。但俗语说的：『瘦死的骆驼比马大』，凭他怎样，你老拔根寒毛比我们的腰还粗呢！ [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     From: Cao Xueqin, Dream of the Red Chamber, mid-18^th century CE

     Ài, wǒ yěshì zhīdào jiānnán de. Dàn súyǔ shuō de: ‘Shòusǐ de luòtuo bǐ mǎ dà’, píng tā zěnyàng, nǐlǎo bá gēn hánmáo bǐ wǒmen de yāo hái cū ne! [Pinyin]

     Alas, I understand that's hard. But as the saying goes, "A camel starved to death is still larger than a horse". No matter how, a hair plucked from you is still thicker than our waists (i.e. a small donation from you is still much more than our worth) !

2. (figurative) Although someone/something is inferior compared with oneself's past or fellows, the one is still better than people/things of one's inferior rank.