怪力亂神
Chinese
| queer; to blame | power; force; strength | in confusion; disorderly | God; unusual; mysterious God; unusual; mysterious; soul; spirit; divine essence; lively; spiritual being | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (怪力亂神) | 怪 | 力 | 亂 | 神 | |
| simp. (怪力乱神) | 怪 | 力 | 乱 | 神 | |
Etymology
From the Analects, Book 7 (《論語·述而》):
- 子不語:怪、力、亂、神。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
- From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
- Zǐ bù yǔ: guài, lì, luàn, shén. [Pinyin]
- The subjects on which the Master did not talk, were — extraordinary things, feats of strength, disorder, and spiritual beings.
子不语:怪、力、乱、神。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- (Pinyin): guàilìluànshén
- (Zhuyin): ㄍㄨㄞˋ ㄌㄧˋ ㄌㄨㄢˋ ㄕㄣˊ
- Cantonese (Jyutping): gwaai3 lik6 lyun6 san4
- Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): koài-le̍k-loān-sîn
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin: guàilìluànshén
- Zhuyin: ㄍㄨㄞˋ ㄌㄧˋ ㄌㄨㄢˋ ㄕㄣˊ
- Tongyong Pinyin: guàilìluànshén
- Wade–Giles: kuai4-li4-luan4-shên2
- Yale: gwài-lì-lwàn-shén
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: guaylihluannshern
- Palladius: гуайлилуаньшэнь (guajliluanʹšɛnʹ)
- Sinological IPA (key): /ku̯aɪ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ li⁵¹⁻⁵³ lu̯än⁵¹ ʂən³⁵/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: gwaai3 lik6 lyun6 san4
- Yale: gwaai lihk lyuhn sàhn
- Cantonese Pinyin: gwaai3 lik9 lyn6 san4
- Guangdong Romanization: guai3 lig6 lün6 sen4
- Sinological IPA (key): /kʷaːi̯³³ lɪk̚² lyːn²² sɐn²¹/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Southern Min
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī: koài-le̍k-loān-sîn
- Tâi-lô: kuài-li̍k-luān-sîn
- Phofsit Daibuun: koaelegloaxnsiin
- IPA (Kaohsiung): /kuai²¹⁻⁴¹ liɪk̚⁴⁻³² luan³³⁻²¹ sin²³/
- IPA (Taipei): /kuai¹¹⁻⁵³ liɪk̚⁴⁻³² luan³³⁻¹¹ sin²⁴/
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
Idiom
怪力亂神
- (dated, literal) monstrousness, violence, rebellion and supernaturalism
- (figurative) superstition
Usage notes
This idiom was originally to be comprehended character by character, but people nowadays split it by two two-character endocentric phrases, hence the "superstition" meaning.