七上八下

Chinese

		seven	up; on; on top up; on; on top; upon; first; previous or last; upper; higher; above; previous; to climb; to go into; to go up	eight	under; next; lower under; next; lower; below; underneath; down(wards); to go down; latter
trad. (七上八下)		七	上	八	下
simp. ^#(七上八下)		七	上	八	下

Etymology

A derivative of the general 七……八…… structure for chengyu. Compare English at sixes and sevens.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): qīshàngbāxià

(Zhuyin): ㄑㄧㄕㄤˋ ㄅㄚㄒㄧㄚˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): cat¹ soeng⁵ baat³ haa⁶

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: qīshàngbāxià
  - Zhuyin: ㄑㄧㄕㄤˋ ㄅㄚㄒㄧㄚˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: cishàngbasià
  - Wade–Giles: chʻi¹-shang⁴-pa¹-hsia⁴
  - Yale: chī-shàng-bā-syà
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chishanqbashiah
  - Palladius: цишанбася (cišanbasja)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕʰi⁵⁵ ʂɑŋ⁵¹ pä⁵⁵ ɕi̯ä⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: cat¹ soeng⁵ baat³ haa⁶
  - Yale: chāt séuhng baat hah
  - Cantonese Pinyin: tsat⁷ soeng⁵ baat⁸ haa⁶
  - Guangdong Romanization: ced¹ sêng⁵ bad³ ha⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰɐt̚⁵ sœːŋ¹³ paːt̚³ haː²²/

Idiom

七上八下

to be nervous, anxious or perturbed; in an unsettled state of mind; to have butterflies in one's stomach
(rare) in a mess; to have a messy state of affairs

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