長袖善舞

Chinese

	long; length; forever long; length; forever; always; constantly; chief; head; elder; to grow; to develop	sleeve	good	to dance; to wield; to brandish
trad. (長袖善舞)	長	袖	善	舞
simp. (长袖善舞)	长	袖	善	舞
Literally: “long sleeves make a good dance”.

Etymology

鄙諺曰：「長袖善舞，多錢善賈。」此言多資之易為工也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

鄙谚曰：「长袖善舞，多钱善贾。」此言多资之易为工也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Han Feizi, circa 2^nd century BCE

Bǐyàn yuē: “Cháng xiù shàn wǔ, duō qián shàn gǔ.” Cǐ yán duō zī zhī yì wèi gōng yě. [Pinyin]

There was a saying that “Long sleeves make a good dance, more money makes better business.” This means that if you have more resources, you can do things easier.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): chángxiùshànwǔ

(Zhuyin): ㄔㄤˊ ㄒㄧㄡˋ ㄕㄢˋ ㄨˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): coeng⁴ zau⁶ sin⁶ mou⁵

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: chángxiùshànwǔ
  - Zhuyin: ㄔㄤˊ ㄒㄧㄡˋ ㄕㄢˋ ㄨˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: chángsiòushànwǔ
  - Wade–Giles: chʻang²-hsiu⁴-shan⁴-wu³
  - Yale: cháng-syòu-shàn-wǔ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: charngshiowshannwuu
  - Palladius: чансюшаньу (čansjušanʹu)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʰɑŋ³⁵ ɕi̯oʊ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ ʂän⁵¹ u²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: coeng⁴ zau⁶ sin⁶ mou⁵
  - Yale: chèuhng jauh sihn móuh
  - Cantonese Pinyin: tsoeng⁴ dzau⁶ sin⁶ mou⁵
  - Guangdong Romanization: cêng⁴ zeo⁶ xin⁶ mou⁵
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰœːŋ²¹ t͡sɐu̯²² siːn²² mou̯¹³/

Idiom

長袖善舞

to have tricks up one’s sleeve and be likely to succeed
(of businesspeople or politicians) be able to make good use of one's connections

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.