人在屋檐下，不得不低頭

Chinese
man; person; people
 
(located) at; in; exist
(located) at; in; exist; (before verbs) immediately involved in; right in the middle of doing
 eaves
 
under; next; lower
under; next; lower; below; underneath; down(wards); to go down; latter
 have no choice but to; cannot but; have to
 
to lower one's head; to bow one's head; to submit
to lower one's head; to bow one's head; to submit; to yield; to give in
trad. (人在屋檐下，不得不低頭/人在屋簷下，不得不低頭) 人 在 屋檐/屋簷 下 ， 不得不 低頭
simp. (人在屋檐下，不得不低头) 人 在 屋檐 下 ， 不得不 低头
Literally: “When a man stands under eaves, he has to lower his head.”

Etymology

A wordplay of 低頭／低头 (dītóu)'s literal and figurative meaning.

Pronunciation

  • Mandarin
    (Pinyin): rén zài wūyán xià, bùdébù dītóu
    (Zhuyin): ㄖㄣˊ ㄗㄞˋ ㄨ ㄧㄢˊ ㄒㄧㄚˋ , ㄅㄨˋ ㄉㄜˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄉㄧ ㄊㄡˊ
  • Mandarin
    • (Standard Chinese)+
      • Hanyu Pinyin: rén zài wūyán xià, bùdébù dītóu
      • Zhuyin: ㄖㄣˊ ㄗㄞˋ ㄨ ㄧㄢˊ ㄒㄧㄚˋ , ㄅㄨˋ ㄉㄜˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄉㄧ ㄊㄡˊ
      • Tongyong Pinyin: rén zài wuyán sià, bùdébù ditóu
      • Wade–Giles: jên2 tsai4 wu1-yen2 hsia4, pu4-tê2-pu4 ti1-tʻou2
      • Yale: rén dzài wū-yán syà-, bù-dé-bù dī-tóu
      • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ren tzay uyan shiah, buderbu ditour
      • Palladius: жэнь цзай уянь ся, будэбу дитоу (žɛnʹ czaj ujanʹ sja, budɛbu ditou)
      • Sinological IPA (key): /ʐən³⁵ t͡saɪ̯⁵¹ u⁵⁵ jɛn³⁵ ɕi̯ä⁵¹⁻⁵³ pu⁵¹ tɤ³⁵ pu⁵¹ ti⁵⁵ tʰoʊ̯³⁵/

Proverb

人在屋檐下，不得不低頭

  1. One often has to concede when he or she is in a disadvantaged position
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