耳鬢廝磨

Chinese

		ear	temples; hair on the temples	servant	grindstone; to sharpen; to delay grindstone; to sharpen; to delay; hardship; to grind; to rub
trad. (耳鬢廝磨)		耳	鬢	廝	磨
simp. (耳鬓厮磨)		耳	鬓	厮	磨
alternative forms		耳鬢斯磨／耳鬓斯磨
Literally: “(one's) ear rubbing (the other's) hair at the temple”.

Etymology

From Dream of the Red Chamber.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): ěrbìnsīmó

  (Zhuyin): ㄦˇ ㄅㄧㄣˋ ㄙ ㄇㄛˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ji⁵ ban³ si¹ mo⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: ěrbìnsīmó
    • Zhuyin: ㄦˇ ㄅㄧㄣˋ ㄙ ㄇㄛˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: ěrbìnsihmó
    • Wade–Giles: êrh³-pin⁴-ssŭ¹-mo²
    • Yale: ěr-bìn-sz̄-mwó
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: eelbinnsymo
    • Palladius: эрбиньсымо (erbinʹsymo)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀɤɻ²¹⁴⁻²¹ pin⁵¹ sz̩⁵⁵ mu̯ɔ³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: ji⁵ ban³ si¹ mo⁴
    • Yale: yíh ban sī mòh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ji⁵ ban³ si¹ mo⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: yi⁵ ben³ xi¹ mo⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jiː¹³ pɐn³³ siː⁵⁵ mɔː²¹/

Idiom

耳鬢廝磨

1. (of a boy and a girl) to have a close childhood relationship; (of a couple) very intimate; deeply in love