小大姐兒裁械子

Chinese

		small; tiny; few small; tiny; few; young	eldest sister	son; child; diminutive suffix	cut out (as a dress); cut; trim cut out (as a dress); cut; trim; reduce; diminish; decision; judgement	tools	child; son; (noun suffix) child; son; (noun suffix); small thing; seed; egg; 1st earthly branch; 11 p.m.–1 a.m., midnight
trad. (小大姐兒裁械子)		小	大姐	兒	裁	械	子
simp. (小大姐儿裁械子)		小	大姐	儿	裁	械	子
Literally: “An [unmarried] young girl cutting up diapers [for the future baby]”.

Etymology

Short for ——閒時置下忙時用／小大姐儿裁械子 ——闲时置下忙时用 (“put aside when not busy, use when busy”)

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): xiǎo dàjiěr cái xiè zi

(Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄉㄚˋ ㄐㄧㄝˇㄦㄘㄞˊ ㄒㄧㄝˋ ˙ㄗ

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: xiǎo dàjiěr cái xiè zi
  - Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄉㄚˋ ㄐㄧㄝˇㄦㄘㄞˊ ㄒㄧㄝˋ ˙ㄗ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: siǎo dàjiěr cái siè zi̊h
  - Wade–Giles: hsiao³ ta⁴-chieh³-ʼrh tsʻai² hsieh⁴ tzŭ⁵
  - Yale: syǎu dà-jyěr tsái syè dz
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sheau dahjieel tsair shieh .tzy
  - Palladius: сяо дацзер цай се цзы (sjao daczer caj se czy)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ tä⁵¹ t͡ɕi̯ɛɻ²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡sʰaɪ̯³⁵ ɕi̯ɛ⁵¹ d͡z̥z̩¹/

Idiom

小大姐兒裁械子

(xiehouyu) getting ready for what's to come while there's time to spare

References

“小大姐兒裁械子”, in 重編國語辭典修訂本 [Revised Mandarin Chinese Dictionary] (in Chinese), National Academy for Educational Research (Taiwan), 2021.