bỉ sắc tư phong
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Vietnamese
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Sino-Vietnamese word from 彼 (“that”), 嗇 (“insufficient”), 斯 (“this”) and 豐 (“bountiful”).
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Hà Nội) IPA(key): [ʔɓi˧˩ sak̚˧˦ tɨ˧˧ fawŋ͡m˧˧]
- (Huế) IPA(key): [ʔɓɪj˧˨ ʂak̚˦˧˥ tɨ˧˧ fawŋ͡m˧˧] ~ [ʔɓɪj˧˨ sak̚˦˧˥ tɨ˧˧ fɔŋ˧˧]
- (Saigon) IPA(key): [ʔɓɪj˨˩˦ ʂak̚˦˥ tɨ˧˧ fawŋ͡m˧˧] ~ [ʔɓɪj˨˩˦ sak̚˦˥ tɨ˧˧ fawŋ͡m˧˧]
Audio (Hà Nội): (file)
Phrase
[edit]- (who) is rich in this is poor in that; (figurative) one cannot have it both ways
- Anh ấy rất giỏi ngoại ngữ nhưng lại yếu môn toán, lạ gì bỉ sắc tư phong.
- He is very good at foreign languages but bad at math, it's not strange that one cannot have it both ways.
- 1820, Nguyễn Du (阮攸), Đoạn trường tân thanh (Truyện Kiều)[1], published 1866, lines 5–6:
𨔍 之 彼 嗇 斯 豊 𡗶 撑 涓 貝 𦟐 紅 打 㭴 - It’s not strange that beauty may beget misery.
The jealous gods tend to heap spites on rosy-cheeked beauties.
- It’s not strange that beauty may beget misery.