抽絲剝繭
Chinese
| peel; to skin | cocoon | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (抽絲剝繭) | 抽絲 | 剝 | 繭 | |
| simp. (抽丝剥茧) | 抽丝 | 剥 | 茧 | |
| Literally: “to peel the cocoon (of a silkworm) by unraveling the (raw) silk thread from which it was spun”. | ||||
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin: chōusībōjiǎn
- Zhuyin: ㄔㄡ ㄙ ㄅㄛ ㄐㄧㄢˇ
- Tongyong Pinyin: chousihbojiǎn
- Wade–Giles: chʻou1-ssŭ1-po1-chien3
- Yale: chōu-sz̄-bwō-jyǎn
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chousybojean
- Palladius: чоусыбоцзянь (čousyboczjanʹ)
- Sinological IPA (key): /ʈ͡ʂʰoʊ̯⁵⁵ sz̩⁵⁵ pu̯ɔ⁵⁵ t͡ɕi̯ɛn²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: cau1 si1 mok1 gaan2
- Yale: chāu sī mōk gáan
- Cantonese Pinyin: tsau1 si1 mok7 gaan2
- Guangdong Romanization: ceo1 xi1 mog1 gan2
- Sinological IPA (key): /t͡sʰɐu̯⁵⁵ siː⁵⁵ mɔːk̚⁵ kaːn³⁵/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Southern Min
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī: thiu-si-pak-kián
- Tâi-lô: thiu-si-pak-kián
- Phofsit Daibuun: tiusi'pakkiern
- IPA (Kaohsiung): /tʰiu⁴⁴⁻³³ si⁴⁴⁻³³ pak̚³²⁻⁴ kiɛn⁴¹/
- IPA (Taipei): /tʰiu⁴⁴⁻³³ si⁴⁴⁻³³ pak̚³²⁻⁴ kiɛn⁵³/
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
Idiom
抽絲剝繭
- to painstakingly get to the bottom of something; to struggle to understand a convoluted argument or issue