苟延殘喘

Chinese

		if indeed; thoughtless	to prolong; to extend; to delay	destroy; spoil; ruin destroy; spoil; ruin; injure; cruel; oppressive; savage; incomplete; disabled	to gasp; to pant; asthma
trad. (苟延殘喘)		苟	延	殘	喘
simp. (苟延残喘)		苟	延	残	喘

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): gǒuyáncánchuǎn

(Zhuyin): ㄍㄡˇ ㄧㄢˊ ㄘㄢˊ ㄔㄨㄢˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): gau² jin⁴ can⁴ cyun²

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: gǒuyáncánchuǎn
  - Zhuyin: ㄍㄡˇ ㄧㄢˊ ㄘㄢˊ ㄔㄨㄢˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: gǒuyáncánchuǎn
  - Wade–Giles: kou³-yen²-tsʻan²-chʻuan³
  - Yale: gǒu-yán-tsán-chwǎn
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: goouyantsarnchoan
  - Palladius: гоуяньцаньчуань (goujanʹcanʹčuanʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /koʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ jɛn³⁵ t͡sʰän³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰu̯än²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: gau² jin⁴ can⁴ cyun²
  - Yale: gáu yìhn chàhn chyún
  - Cantonese Pinyin: gau² jin⁴ tsan⁴ tsyn²
  - Guangdong Romanization: geo² yin⁴ cen⁴ qun²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /kɐu̯³⁵ jiːn²¹ t͡sʰɐn²¹ t͡sʰyːn³⁵/

Idiom

苟延殘喘

to linger; to drag on one's feeble existence
- 何不使我得早處囊中，以苟延殘喘乎？異時倘得脫穎而出，先生之恩，生死而肉骨也。敢不努力以效龜蛇之誠！ [Literary Chinese, trad.]
  何不使我得早处囊中，以苟延残喘乎？异时倘得脱颖而出，先生之恩，生死而肉骨也。敢不努力以效龟蛇之诚！ [Literary Chinese, simp.]
  From: early 16th c., 馬中錫,《中山狼傳》, translated by James R. Hightower
  Hébù shǐ wǒ dé zǎo chù náng zhōng, yǐ gǒuyáncánchuǎn hū? Yìshí tǎng dé tuōyǐng'érchū, xiānshēng zhī ēn, shēngsǐ ér ròugǔ yě. Gǎn bù nǔlì yǐ xiào guī shé zhī chéng! [Pinyin]
  Could you not let me quickly get into your bag, so that I may prolong my threatened life? Later on if I get out alive, I will be indebted to you for saving my life, and I will certainly do everything in my power to repay your kindness, no less than did the snake and the tortoise for their benefactors.