四兩撥千斤
See also: 四两拨千斤
Chinese
| four | both; two; some both; two; some; a few; tael |
to push aside; to appropriate (money); to move to push aside; to appropriate (money); to move; to set aside; group; batch; to poke; to stir |
thousand | catty; weight equal to 0.5 kg | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (四兩撥千斤) | 四 | 兩 | 撥 | 千 | 斤 | |
| simp. (四两拨千斤) | 四 | 两 | 拨 | 千 | 斤 | |
| Literally: “four ounces yields 1000 catties”. | ||||||
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- (Pinyin): sì liǎng bō qiān jīn
- (Zhuyin): ㄙˋ ㄌㄧㄤˇ ㄅㄛ ㄑㄧㄢ ㄐㄧㄣ
- Cantonese (Jyutping): sei3 loeng5-2 but6 cin1 gan1
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin: sì liǎng bō qiān jīn
- Zhuyin: ㄙˋ ㄌㄧㄤˇ ㄅㄛ ㄑㄧㄢ ㄐㄧㄣ
- Tongyong Pinyin: sìh liǎng bo cian jin
- Wade–Giles: ssŭ4 liang3 po1 chʻien1 chin1
- Yale: sz̀ lyǎng bwō chyān jīn
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: syh leang bo chian jin
- Palladius: сы лян бо цянь цзинь (sy ljan bo cjanʹ czinʹ)
- Sinological IPA (key): /sz̩⁵¹ li̯ɑŋ²¹⁴⁻²¹ pu̯ɔ⁵⁵ t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵ t͡ɕin⁵⁵/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: sei3 loeng5-2 but6 cin1 gan1
- Yale: sei léung buht chīn gān
- Cantonese Pinyin: sei3 loeng5-2 but9 tsin1 gan1
- Guangdong Romanization: séi3 lêng5-2 bud6 qin1 gen1
- Sinological IPA (key): /sei̯³³ lœːŋ¹³⁻³⁵ puːt̚² t͡sʰiːn⁵⁵ kɐn⁵⁵/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
Idiom
四兩撥千斤
- a huge return for a very small investment; a big payoff for a small effort
Synonyms
Dialectal synonyms of 四兩撥千斤 (“a huge return for a very small investment; a big payoff for a small effort”) [map]