蠅營狗苟
Chinese
[edit]| fly; musca | army; to deal in; to trade army; to deal in; to trade; to operate; to run; camp; nourishment; to manage |
dog | if indeed; thoughtless | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (蠅營狗苟) | 蠅 | 營 | 狗 | 苟 | |
| simp. (蝇营狗苟) | 蝇 | 营 | 狗 | 苟 | |
| alternative forms | 狗苟蠅營／狗苟蝇营 | ||||
| Literally: “swarm as flies do for good; hang round as dogs do for food”. | |||||
Etymology
[edit]- 朝悔其行，暮已復然。蠅營狗苟，驅去復還。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
- From: Tang Dynasty, Han Yu, 《送窮文》
- Zhāo huǐ qí xíng, mù yǐ fù rán. Yíngyínggǒugǒu, qū qù fù huán. [Pinyin]
- In the morning, I regret my behavior, but in the evening, it all returns to the same. The five ghosts attached to me, I can't drive them away. (This is to say that he holds his good qualities very firmly, hence 蠅營狗苟 here should be understood literally.)
朝悔其行，暮已复然。蝇营狗苟，驱去复还。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
Pronunciation
[edit]- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin:
- Zhuyin: ㄧㄥˊ ㄧㄥˊ ㄍㄡˇ ㄍㄡˇ
- Tongyong Pinyin: yíngyínggǒugǒu
- Wade–Giles: ying2-ying2-kou3-kou3
- Yale: yíng-yíng-gǒu-gǒu
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yngynggoougoou
- Palladius: инъингоугоу (inʺingougou)
- Sinological IPA (key): /iŋ³⁵ iŋ³⁵ koʊ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ koʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Middle Chinese: ying yweng kuwX kuwX
Idiom
[edit]蠅營狗苟
- (figuratively) to shamelessly seek personal gain; profit by ingratiating oneself with the rich
Categories:
- Literary Chinese terms with quotations
- Chinese lemmas
- Mandarin lemmas
- Middle Chinese lemmas
- Chinese idioms
- Mandarin idioms
- Middle Chinese idioms
- Chinese chengyu
- Mandarin chengyu
- Middle Chinese chengyu
- Chinese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Chinese terms spelled with 蠅
- Chinese terms spelled with 營
- Chinese terms spelled with 狗
- Chinese terms spelled with 苟