紙老虎
See also: 纸老虎
Chinese
Etymology
An early attestation is in the Water Margin as 紙虎:
- 閒常時只如鳥嘴，賣弄殺好拳棒。急上場時，便沒些用，見箇紙虎，也嚇一交。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
- From: Shi Nai'an, Water Margin, circa 14th century CE
- Xiáncháng shí zhǐ rú diǎozuǐ, màinòng shāhǎo quánbàng. Jí shàngchǎng shí, biàn méi xiē yòng, jiàn gè zhǐhǔ, yě xià yījiāo. [Pinyin]
- In fair times, you are a big talker and show off splendid martial art. In a pinch, you are so pathetic that in face of a paper tiger, you awkwardly fall into a fit of panic (the adulter hid under the bed, scolded for not dueling the chastiser)
闲常时只如鸟嘴，卖弄杀好拳棒。急上场时，便没些用，见个纸虎，也吓一交。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]
| paper | tiger; tractor | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (紙老虎) | 紙 | 老虎 | |
| simp. (纸老虎) | 纸 | 老虎 | |
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- Cantonese (Jyutping): zi2 lou5 fu2
- Hakka (Changting, Changting Pinyin): zhï3 lao3 fu3
- Southern Min (Teochew, Peng'im): zua2 lao6 houn2
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin: zhǐlǎohǔ [Phonetic: zhǐláohǔ]
- Zhuyin: ㄓˇ ㄌㄠˇ ㄏㄨˇ
- Tongyong Pinyin: jhǐhlǎohǔ
- Wade–Giles: chih3-lao3-hu3
- Yale: jř-lǎu-hǔ
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jyylaohuu
- Palladius: чжилаоху (čžilaoxu)
- Sinological IPA (key): /ʈ͡ʂʐ̩²¹⁴⁻²¹ lɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ xu²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: zi2 lou5 fu2
- Yale: jí lóuh fú
- Cantonese Pinyin: dzi2 lou5 fu2
- Guangdong Romanization: ji2 lou5 fu2
- Sinological IPA (key): /t͡siː³⁵ lou̯¹³ fuː³⁵/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Hakka
- (Changting)
- Changting Pinyin: zhï3 lao3 fu3
- Sinological IPA: /t͡ʃʐ̩⁴²⁻³³ lɔ⁴²⁻³³ fu⁴²/
- (Changting)
- Southern Min
- (Teochew)
- Peng'im: zua2 lao6 houn2
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: tsuá lău hóuⁿ
- Sinological IPA (key): /t͡sua⁵²⁻³⁵ lau³⁵⁻¹¹ hõũ⁵²/
- (Teochew)
Noun
紙老虎
- (literal and figurative) paper tiger
- 一切反動派都是紙老虎。看起來，反動派的樣子是可怕的，但是實際上並沒有什麼了不起的力量。 [MSC, trad.]
- From: 1946, 毛澤東 (Mao Zedong), 《和美國記者安娜·劉易斯·斯特朗的談話》 (Talk with the American Correspondent Anna Louise Strong), 《毛澤東選集》. English translation based on the Foreign Languages Press edition
- Yīqiè fǎndòngpài dōu shì zhǐlǎohǔ. Kàn qǐlái, fǎndòngpài de yàngzǐ shì kěpà de, dànshì shíjìshàng bìng méiyǒu shénme lebùqǐ de lìliàng. [Pinyin]
- All reactionaries are paper tigers. In appearance, the reactionaries are terrifying, but in reality they are not so powerful.
一切反动派都是纸老虎。看起来，反动派的样子是可怕的，但是实际上并没有什么了不起的力量。 [MSC, simp.]
References
- 周存 [Zhōu, Cún], editor (2023), “纸老虎”, in 长汀话词典 CHANGTINGHUA CIDIAN [Dictionary of Changting Dialect] (overall work in Hakka and Mandarin), Guangzhou: 世界图书出版有限公司 [World Book Publishing Co., Ltd.], →ISBN, page 811.