光陰似箭
See also: 光阴似箭
Chinese
| bright and dark; light and shade; time | to seem; to appear; similar to seem; to appear; similar; like; to resemble |
arrow | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (光陰似箭) | 光陰 | 似 | 箭 | |
| simp. (光阴似箭) | 光阴 | 似 | 箭 | |
FWOTD – 6 October 2015
Etymology
From Wei Zhuang's poem 《關河道中》:
- 往來千里路長在，聚散十年人不同。
- Wǎnglái qiānlǐ lù cháng zài, jùsàn shí nián rén bùtóng.
Dàn jiàn shíguāng liú sì jiàn, qǐ zhī tiāndào qū rú gōng. [Pinyin] - The road of a thousand leagues still winds ahead,
But those who come and go are no longer those ten years past.
Surely we see time’s flow swift as an arrow’s flight,
Yet how could we know Heaven's Way bends like a bow!
但見時光流似箭，豈知天道曲如弓。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
往来千里路长在，聚散十年人不同。
但见时光流似箭，岂知天道曲如弓。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin: guāngyīnsìjiàn
- Zhuyin: ㄍㄨㄤ ㄧㄣ ㄙˋ ㄐㄧㄢˋ
- Tongyong Pinyin: guangyinsìhjiàn
- Wade–Giles: kuang1-yin1-ssŭ4-chien4
- Yale: gwāng-yīn-sz̀-jyàn
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: guanginsyhjiann
- Palladius: гуанъиньсыцзянь (guanʺinʹsyczjanʹ)
- Sinological IPA (key): /ku̯ɑŋ⁵⁵ in⁵⁵ sz̩⁵¹⁻⁵³ t͡ɕi̯ɛn⁵¹/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: gwong1 jam1 ci5 zin3
- Yale: gwōng yām chíh jin
- Cantonese Pinyin: gwong1 jam1 tsi5 dzin3
- Guangdong Romanization: guong1 yem1 qi5 jin3
- Sinological IPA (key): /kʷɔːŋ⁵⁵ jɐm⁵⁵ t͡sʰiː¹³ t͡siːn³³/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
Proverb
光陰似箭
- Time flies like an arrow.
- (Can we date this quote?), “第一天失戀”, performed by 吳若希:
- 都知光陰似箭，我捱過這天，我過到這天，明日又有挑戰。 [Literary Cantonese, trad.]
- dou1 zi1 gwong1 jam1 ci5 zin3, ngo5 ngaai4 gwo3 ze2 tin1, ngo5 gwo3 dou3 ze2 tin1, ming4 jat6 jau6 jau5 tiu1 zin3. [Jyutping]
- I know that time flies like an arrow. [Even if] I suffer through this day, [and if] I can get through this day, tomorrow will still be challenging.
都知光阴似箭，我捱过这天，我过到这天，明日又有挑战。 [Literary Cantonese, simp.]
Synonyms
- 時光流似箭／时光流似箭
- 歲月如流／岁月如流
- 日月如梭