爾虞我詐

Chinese

		you; thou	to deceive	I; me	crafty; dishonest; to cheat crafty; dishonest; to cheat; to defraud; to swindle
trad. (爾虞我詐)		爾	虞	我	詐
simp. (尔虞我诈)		尔	虞	我	诈

Etymology

From Zuozhuan:

盟曰：「我無爾詐，爾無我虞。」 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]

盟曰：「我无尔诈，尔无我虞。」 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]

From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4^th century BCE

Méng yuē: “Wǒ wú ěr zhà, ěr wú wǒ yú.” [Pinyin]

The covenant said, “We shall not defraud you, and you shall not deceive us.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): ěryúwǒzhà

(Zhuyin): ㄦˇ ㄩˊ ㄨㄛˇ ㄓㄚˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): ji⁵ jyu⁴ ngo⁵ zaa³

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: ěryúwǒzhà
  - Zhuyin: ㄦˇ ㄩˊ ㄨㄛˇ ㄓㄚˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: ěryúwǒjhà
  - Wade–Giles: êrh³-yü²-wo³-cha⁴
  - Yale: ěr-yú-wǒ-jà
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: eelyuwoojah
  - Palladius: эрюйвочжа (erjujvočža)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀɤɻ²¹⁴⁻²¹ y³⁵ wɔ²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʈ͡ʂä⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: ji⁵ jyu⁴ ngo⁵ zaa³
  - Yale: yíh yùh ngóh ja
  - Cantonese Pinyin: ji⁵ jy⁴ ngo⁵ dzaa³
  - Guangdong Romanization: yi⁵ yu⁴ ngo⁵ za³
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /jiː¹³ jyː²¹ ŋɔː¹³ t͡saː³³/

Idiom

爾虞我詐

to cheat or deceive one another

Synonyms

爾詐我虞／尔诈我虞