人不像人，鬼不像鬼

Chinese
man; person; people not; no
 
(look) like; similar (to); appearance
(look) like; similar (to); appearance; to appear; to seem; image; portrait; resemble; seem
 man; person; people ghost; sly; crafty not; no
 
(look) like; similar (to); appearance
(look) like; similar (to); appearance; to appear; to seem; image; portrait; resemble; seem
 ghost; sly; crafty
trad. (人不像人，鬼不像鬼) 人 不 像 人 ， 鬼 不 像 鬼
simp. #(人不像人，鬼不像鬼) 人 不 像 人 ， 鬼 不 像 鬼
Literally: “(A place or circumstance where) people do not resemble people, and ghosts do not resemble ghosts”.

Pronunciation

  • Mandarin
    • (Standard Chinese)+
      • Hanyu Pinyin: rén bù xiàng rén, guǐ bù xiàng guǐ [Phonetic: rén bú xiàng rén, guǐ bú xiàng guǐ]
      • Zhuyin: ㄖㄣˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄒㄧㄤˋ ㄖㄣˊ , ㄍㄨㄟˇ ㄅㄨˋ ㄒㄧㄤˋ ㄍㄨㄟˇ
      • Tongyong Pinyin: rén bù siàng rén, guěi bù siàng guěi
      • Wade–Giles: jên2 pu4 hsiang4 jên2, kuei3 pu4 hsiang4 kuei3
      • Yale: rén bù syàng rén-, gwěi bù syàng gwěi
      • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ren bu shianq ren, goei bu shianq goei
      • Palladius: жэнь бу сян жэнь, гуй бу сян гуй (žɛnʹ bu sjan žɛnʹ, guj bu sjan guj)
      • Sinological IPA (key): /ʐən³⁵ pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ ɕi̯ɑŋ⁵¹ ʐən³⁵ ku̯eɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ ɕi̯ɑŋ⁵¹ ku̯eɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/

Idiom

人不像人，鬼不像鬼

  1. pure misery
    我過了四年人不像人鬼不像鬼的生活。 [MSC, trad.]
    我过了四年人不像人鬼不像鬼的生活。 [MSC, simp.]
    Wǒ guò le sì nián rénbùxiàngrén guǐbùxiàngguǐ de shēnghuó. [Pinyin]
    For four years, I lived a life of pure misery.
  2. ghastly
    別支持人不像人鬼不像鬼的勞退金新制。 [MSC, trad.]
    别支持人不像人鬼不像鬼的劳退金新制。 [MSC, simp.]
    Bié zhīchí rénbùxiàngrén guǐbùxiàngguǐ de láotuìjīn xīnzhì. [Pinyin]
    Don't support the new ghastly labor retirement system.

Synonyms
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.