鵲巢鳩佔

Chinese

magpie nest turtle-dove; Turtur orientalis
to occupy; to constitute; to make up
to occupy; to constitute; to make up; to account; to observe; to divine
 
trad. (鵲巢鳩佔/鵲巢鳩占) 鵲 巢 鳩 佔/占
simp. (鹊巢鸠占) 鹊 巢 鸠 占
anagram 鳩佔鵲巢／鸠占鹊巢
Literally: “the magpie's nest is occupied by the cuckoo”.

Etymology

From the Classic of Poetry, poem 12 (《詩經·召南·鵲巢》):

維鵲有巢，維鳩居之。
之子于歸，百兩御之。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
维鹊有巢，维鸠居之。
之子于归，百两御之。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11th – 7th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
Wéi què yǒu cháo, wéi jiū jū zhī.
Zhī zǐ yú guī, bǎi liǎng yù zhī. [Pinyin]
The nest is the magpie's; The cuckoo possesses it.
This young lady is going to her future home; A hundred carriages are escorting her.

鳩 / 鸠 (jiū) here is short for 鳲鳩 / 鸤鸠 (shījiū) which was the ancient term for "cuckoo" instead of "dove" or "pigeon" in usual context, and this poem was referring to cuckoos' behaviour of brood parasitism.

Pronunciation

  • Mandarin
  • Cantonese
    • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
      • Jyutping: coek3 caau4 kau1 zim3 / zoek3 caau4 kau1 zim3 / coek3 caau4 gau1 zim3
      • Yale: cheuk chàauh kāu jim / jeuk chàauh kāu jim / cheuk chàauh gāu jim
      • Cantonese Pinyin: tsoek8 tsaau4 kau1 dzim3 / dzoek8 tsaau4 kau1 dzim3 / tsoek8 tsaau4 gau1 dzim3
      • Guangdong Romanization: cêg3 cao4 keo1 jim3 / zêg3 cao4 keo1 jim3 / cêg3 cao4 geo1 jim3
      • Sinological IPA (key): /t͡sʰœːk̚³ t͡sʰaːu̯²¹ kʰɐu̯⁵⁵ t͡siːm³³/, /t͡sœːk̚³ t͡sʰaːu̯²¹ kʰɐu̯⁵⁵ t͡siːm³³/, /t͡sʰœːk̚³ t͡sʰaːu̯²¹ kɐu̯⁵⁵ t͡siːm³³/

Idiom

鵲巢鳩佔

  1. to occupy or seize residences, land, positions, etc. belonging to others
  2. (figurative) to take other people's efforts and reap the profits; to reap what one has not sown

Synonyms

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