踏破鐵鞋無覓處，得來全不費工夫

See also: 踏破铁鞋无觅处，得来全不费工夫

Chinese

		One can wear out iron shoes searching for something with no success.; One will search high and low only to find it when one least expects to.		get; obtain; gain get; obtain; gain; proper; suitable; proud; contented; allow; permit; ready; finished; a sentence particle used after a verb to show effect; degree or possibility; to have to; must; ought to; to need to	to come	all; whole; entire all; whole; entire; every; complete	not; no	to take time and energy; to be time-consuming; to be exacting to take time and energy; to be time-consuming; to be exacting; to be demanding
trad. (踏破鐵鞋無覓處，得來全不費工夫)		踏破鐵鞋無覓處	，	得	來	全	不	費工夫
simp. (踏破铁鞋无觅处，得来全不费工夫)		踏破铁鞋无觅处	，	得	来	全	不	费工夫
Literally: “One can wear out iron shoes searching for something with no success, only to acquire it by accident through no effort of one's own”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): tàpò tiěxié wú mìchù, délái quán bù fèi gōngfu

  (Zhuyin): ㄊㄚˋ ㄆㄛˋ ㄊㄧㄝˇ ㄒㄧㄝˊ ㄨˊ ㄇㄧˋ ㄔㄨˋ , ㄉㄜˊ ㄌㄞˊ ㄑㄩㄢˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄈㄟˋ ㄍㄨㄥ ˙ㄈㄨ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): daap⁶ po³ tit³ haai⁴ mou⁴ mik⁶ cyu³, dak¹ loi⁴ cyun⁴ bat¹ fai³ gung¹ fu¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: tàpò tiěxié wú mìchù, délái quán bù fèi gōngfu [Phonetic: tàpò tiěxié wú mìchù, délái quán bú fèi gōngfu]
    • Zhuyin: ㄊㄚˋ ㄆㄛˋ ㄊㄧㄝˇ ㄒㄧㄝˊ ㄨˊ ㄇㄧˋ ㄔㄨˋ , ㄉㄜˊ ㄌㄞˊ ㄑㄩㄢˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄈㄟˋ ㄍㄨㄥ ˙ㄈㄨ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: tàpò tiěsié wú mìchù, délái cyuán bù fèi gongfů
    • Wade–Giles: tʻa⁴-pʻo⁴ tʻieh³-hsieh² wu² mi⁴-chʻu⁴, tê²-lai² chʻüan² pu⁴ fei⁴ kung¹-fu⁵
    • Yale: tà-pwò tyě-syé wú mì-chù-, dé-lái chywán bù fèi gūng-fu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tahpoh tieeshye wu mihchuh, derlai chyuan bu fey gong.fu
    • Palladius: тапо тесе у мичу, дэлай цюань бу фэй гунфу (tapo tese u miču, dɛlaj cjuanʹ bu fɛj gunfu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰä⁵¹⁻⁵³ pʰu̯ɔ⁵¹ tʰi̯ɛ²¹⁴⁻²¹ ɕi̯ɛ³⁵ u³⁵ mi⁵¹⁻⁵³ ʈ͡ʂʰu⁵¹ tɤ³⁵ laɪ̯³⁵ t͡ɕʰy̯ɛn³⁵ pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ feɪ̯⁵¹ kʊŋ⁵⁵ fu²/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: daap⁶ po³ tit³ haai⁴ mou⁴ mik⁶ cyu³, dak¹ loi⁴ cyun⁴ bat¹ fai³ gung¹ fu¹
    • Yale: daahp po tit hàaih mòuh mihk chyu, dāk lòih chyùhn bāt fai gūng fū
    • Cantonese Pinyin: daap⁹ po³ tit⁸ haai⁴ mou⁴ mik⁹ tsy³, dak⁷ loi⁴ tsyn⁴ bat⁷ fai³ gung¹ fu¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: dab⁶ po³ tid³ hai⁴ mou⁴ mig⁶ qu³, deg¹ loi⁴ qun⁴ bed¹ fei³ gung¹ fu¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /taːp̚² pʰɔː³³ tʰiːt̚³ haːi̯²¹ mou̯²¹ mɪk̚² t͡sʰyː³³ tɐk̚⁵ lɔːi̯²¹ t͡sʰyːn²¹ pɐt̚⁵ fɐi̯³³ kʊŋ⁵⁵ fuː⁵⁵/

Idiom

踏破鐵鞋無覓處，得來全不費工夫

1. (xiehouyu) One will search high and low only to find it when one least expects to.