龜毛
Chinese
| tortoise; turtle | hair; fur; one tenth of a yuan or dollar | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (龜毛) | 龜 | 毛 | |
| simp. (龟毛) | 龟 | 毛 | |
| Literally: “turtle hair”. | |||
Etymology 1
Originally Hokkien. It is possibly a reference to 龜毛兔角／龟毛兔角 (guīmáotùjiǎo) ("an impossibility", literally "turtle fur and rabbit horns"), a Buddhist metaphor that describes hollow or specious logic.
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin: guīmáo
- Zhuyin: ㄍㄨㄟ ㄇㄠˊ
- Tongyong Pinyin: gueimáo
- Wade–Giles: kuei1-mao2
- Yale: gwēi-máu
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: gueimau
- Palladius: гуймао (gujmao)
- Sinological IPA (key): /ku̯eɪ̯⁵⁵ mɑʊ̯³⁵/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Southern Min
- (Hokkien)
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ku-mo͘
- Tâi-lô: ku-moo
- Phofsit Daibuun: kumof
- IPA (Xiamen): /ku⁴⁴⁻²² mɔ̃⁴⁴/
- IPA (Quanzhou): /ku³³ mɔ̃³³/
- IPA (Zhangzhou): /ku⁴⁴⁻²² mɔ̃⁴⁴/
- IPA (Taipei): /ku⁴⁴⁻³³ mɔ̃⁴⁴/
- IPA (Kaohsiung): /ku⁴⁴⁻³³ mɔ̃⁴⁴/
- (Hokkien)
Adjective
龜毛
- (Southern Min, Taiwanese Mandarin, of someone's personality) picky; indecisive; high-maintenance (describes somebody with unreasonable expectations)
Synonyms
References
- (Min Nan) “龜毛”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.
Etymology 2
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin: guīmáo
- Zhuyin: ㄍㄨㄟ ㄇㄠˊ
- Tongyong Pinyin: gueimáo
- Wade–Giles: kuei1-mao2
- Yale: gwēi-máu
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: gueimau
- Palladius: гуймао (gujmao)
- Sinological IPA (key): /ku̯eɪ̯⁵⁵ mɑʊ̯³⁵/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: gwai1 mou4
- Yale: gwāi mòuh
- Cantonese Pinyin: gwai1 mou4
- Guangdong Romanization: guei1 mou4
- Sinological IPA (key): /kʷɐi̯⁵⁵ mou̯²¹/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
Noun
龜毛
Synonyms
| Variety | Location | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Northeastern Mandarin | Taiwan | 屌毛 |
| Jilu Mandarin | Jinan | 屌毛 |
| Jiaoliao Mandarin | Yantai (Muping) | 雞巴毛, 雞子毛, 屌毛 |
| Central Plains Mandarin | Luoyang | 雞巴毛, 屌毛, 㞗毛 |
| Xi'an | 㞗毛 | |
| Lanyin Mandarin | Yinchuan | 㞗毛 |
| Cantonese | Hong Kong | 鳩毛 |
| Gan | Pingxiang | 卵毛 |
| Southern Min | Tainan | 𡳞蔓 |
| Jieyang | 𡳞毛 | |
| Zhongshan Min | Zhongshan (Sanxiang) | 卵毛 |
| Wu | Shanghai | 卵毛 |
| Shanghai (Chongming) | 卵毛 | |
| Suzhou | 卵毛 | |
| Danyang | 卵毛 | |
| Hangzhou | 卵毛 |