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。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
- From: Han Feizi, circa 2nd 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.
鄙谚曰：「长袖善舞，多钱善贾。」此言多资之易为工也。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]
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⁾/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- 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/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
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