裡外不是人

See also: 里外不是人

Chinese

		inside and outside; inside out; completely inside and outside; inside out; completely; no matter what	to not be	man; person; people
trad. (裡外不是人/裏外不是人)		裡外/裏外	不是	人
simp. (里外不是人)		里外	不是	人
Literally: “to be not a human being completely”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): lǐwài bùshì rén

  (Zhuyin): ㄌㄧˇ ㄨㄞˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄕˋ ㄖㄣˊ

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: lǐwài bùshì rén [Phonetic: lǐwài búshì rén]
    • Zhuyin: ㄌㄧˇ ㄨㄞˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄕˋ ㄖㄣˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: lǐwài bùshìh rén
    • Wade–Giles: li³-wai⁴ pu⁴-shih⁴ jên²
    • Yale: lǐ-wài bù-shr̀ rén
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: liiway bushyh ren
    • Palladius: ливай буши жэнь (livaj buši žɛnʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /li²¹⁴⁻²¹ waɪ̯⁵¹ pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ ʂʐ̩⁵¹ ʐən³⁵/

Idiom

裡外不是人

1. unable to make anybody happy; please none of them

   這件事你還是別插手吧！免得到最後裡外不是人，好心沒好報。 [MSC, trad.]
   这件事你还是别插手吧！免得到最后里外不是人，好心没好报。 [MSC, simp.]

   Zhè jiàn shì nǐ háishì bié chāshǒu ba! Miǎndé dào zuìhòu lǐwàibùshìrén, hǎoxīnméihǎobào. [Pinyin]

   I wouldn't get involved in this if I were you! You'll try to please all of them, but in the end, you'll please none of them.

Derived terms

• 豬八戒照鏡子——裡外不是人 / 猪八戒照镜子——里外不是人 (Zhū Bājiè zhào jìngzǐ, lǐwàibùshìrén)