砸鍋賣鐵

Chinese

		smash; smashed	pot; pan; boiler	sell	iron
trad. (砸鍋賣鐵)		砸	鍋	賣	鐵
simp. (砸锅卖铁)		砸	锅	卖	铁

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): záguōmàitiě

  (Zhuyin): ㄗㄚˊ ㄍㄨㄛ ㄇㄞˋ ㄊㄧㄝˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zaap³ wo¹ maai⁶ tit³

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: záguōmàitiě
    • Zhuyin: ㄗㄚˊ ㄍㄨㄛ ㄇㄞˋ ㄊㄧㄝˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: záguomàitiě
    • Wade–Giles: tsa²-kuo¹-mai⁴-tʻieh³
    • Yale: dzá-gwō-mài-tyě
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tzarguomaytiee
    • Palladius: цзагомайте (czagomajte)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sä³⁵ ku̯ɔ⁵⁵ maɪ̯⁵¹ tʰi̯ɛ²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: zaap³ wo¹ maai⁶ tit³
    • Yale: jaap wō maaih tit
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzaap⁸ wo¹ maai⁶ tit⁸
    • Guangdong Romanization: zab³ wo¹ mai⁶ tid³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡saːp̚³ wɔː⁵⁵ maːi̯²² tʰiːt̚³/

Idiom

砸鍋賣鐵

1. (figurative) to give away all that one has

   我這會兒是砸鍋賣鐵，東挪西湊，才還清債務。 [MSC, trad.]
   我这会儿是砸锅卖铁，东挪西凑，才还清债务。 [MSC, simp.]

   Wǒ zhèhuì'ér shì záguōmàitiě, dōngnuóxīcòu, cái háiqīng zhàiwù. [Pinyin]

   I have to sell everything I have and scrape together money from everywhere to pay off my debts.

   • 2024 August 30, 察客, “下午察：地方政府“砸鍋賣鐵”來化債？”, in Lianhe Zaobao‎^[1]:

   地方政府要擼起袖子“砸鍋賣鐵”，許多人立即嗅到地方債務壓力的嚴重性。還有一部分人更關心：要砸誰的鍋，賣誰的鐵？ [MSC, trad.]
   地方政府要撸起袖子“砸锅卖铁”，许多人立即嗅到地方债务压力的严重性。还有一部分人更关心：要砸谁的锅，卖谁的铁？ [MSC, simp.]

   Dìfāng zhèngfǔ yào lū qǐ xiùzǐ “záguōmàitiě”, xǔduō rén lìjí xiù dào dìfāng zhàiwù yālì de yánzhòngxìng. Háiyǒu yībùfēn rén gèng guānxīn: yào zá shéi de guō, mài shéi de tiě? [Pinyin]

   Local governments want to roll up their sleeves and sell everything they have, many people immediately sense the seriousness of local debt pressure. There are also some people who are more concerned about: whose pot should be smashed and whose iron should be sold?

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.