침소봉대

Korean

Etymology

Sino-Korean word from 針小棒大 (“[speaking of] the smallness of a needle [as] the largeness of a club”).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ˈt͡ɕʰi(ː)msʰo̞bo̞ŋdɛ] ~ [ˈt͡ɕʰi(ː)msʰo̞bo̞ŋde̞]
• Phonetic hangul: [침(ː)소봉대/침(ː)소봉데]
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	chimsobongdae
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	chimsobongdae
McCune–Reischauer?	ch'imsobongdae
Yale Romanization?	chīmsopongtay

Noun

침소봉대 • (chimsobongdae) (hanja 針小棒大)

1. (four-character idiom from Classical Chinese) speaking with great exaggeration

   Synonyms: 견문발검(見蚊拔劒), 노승발검(怒蠅拔劒)