肩不能挑，手不能提

Chinese

		shoulder	cannot; must not; should not cannot; must not; should not; to be unable to; to fail to	incite; carry on a pole; choose		hand; convenient; ‑er	cannot; must not; should not cannot; must not; should not; to be unable to; to fail to	to carry; to lift; to put forward to carry; to lift; to put forward; (upwards character stroke); lifting (brush stroke in painting); to mention; carry (suspended)
trad. (肩不能挑，手不能提)		肩	不能	挑	，	手	不能	提
simp. #(肩不能挑，手不能提)		肩	不能	挑	，	手	不能	提
Literally: “incapable of carrying anything either on one's shoulders or in one's hands”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): jiān bùnéng tiāo, shǒu bùnéng tí

  (Zhuyin): ㄐㄧㄢ ㄅㄨˋ ㄋㄥˊ ㄊㄧㄠ , ㄕㄡˇ ㄅㄨˋ ㄋㄥˊ ㄊㄧˊ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: jiān bùnéng tiāo, shǒu bùnéng tí
    • Zhuyin: ㄐㄧㄢ ㄅㄨˋ ㄋㄥˊ ㄊㄧㄠ , ㄕㄡˇ ㄅㄨˋ ㄋㄥˊ ㄊㄧˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jian bùnéng tiao, shǒu bùnéng tí
    • Wade–Giles: chien¹ pu⁴-nêng² tʻiao¹, shou³ pu⁴-nêng² tʻi²
    • Yale: jyān bù-néng tyāu-, shǒu bù-néng tí
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jian buneng tiau, shoou buneng tyi
    • Palladius: цзянь бунэн тяо, шоу бунэн ти (czjanʹ bunɛn tjao, šou bunɛn ti)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕi̯ɛn⁵⁵ pu⁵¹ nɤŋ³⁵ tʰi̯ɑʊ̯⁵⁵ ʂoʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ pu⁵¹ nɤŋ³⁵ tʰi³⁵/

Idiom

肩不能挑，手不能提

1. (figuratively) Synonym of 肩不能挑擔，手不能提籃 / 肩不能挑担，手不能提篮 (jiān bùnéng tiāodàn, shǒu bùnéng tílán, “unable to do manual labor”)

   • 在一大群肩不能挑手不能提的學生面前做一點勞動的事，比如自己挑行李吧，也覺得不像樣子。 [MSC, trad.]
     在一大群肩不能挑手不能提的学生面前做一点劳动的事，比如自己挑行李吧，也觉得不像样子。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 1942, 毛澤東 (Mao Zedong), 《在延安文藝座談會上的講話》 (Talks at the Yenan Forum on Literature and Art), 《毛澤東選集》. English translation based on the Foreign Languages Press edition

     Zài yī dà qún jiān bùnéng tiāo shǒu bùnéng tí de xuéshēng miànqián zuò yīdiǎn láodòng de shì, bǐrú zìjǐ tiāo xínglǐ ba, yě juéde bù xiàng yàngzi. [Pinyin]

     I then used to feel it undignified to do even a little manual labour, such as carrying my own luggage in the presence of my fellow students, who were incapable of carrying anything, either on their shoulders or in their hands.