打破砂鍋問到底

Chinese
to break; to smash clay pot to ask
 
actually; exactly; are or are not
actually; exactly; are or are not; after all; in the end; all in all
trad. (打破砂鍋問到底) 打破 砂鍋 問 到底
simp. (打破砂锅问到底) 打破 砂锅 问 到底
alternative forms 打破沙鍋問到底／打破沙锅问到底
打破砂鍋璺到底／打破砂锅璺到底
打破沙鍋璺到底／打破沙锅璺到底
Literally: “to break the clay pot and ask (crack) to the bottom”.

Etymology

A pun based on the homophony of 璺 (wèn, “crack”) and 問／问 (wèn, “to ask”).

Pronunciation

  • Mandarin
    (Pinyin): dǎpò shāguō wèn dàodǐ
    (Zhuyin): ㄉㄚˇ ㄆㄛˋ ㄕㄚ ㄍㄨㄛ ㄨㄣˋ ㄉㄠˋ ㄉㄧˇ
  • Mandarin
    • (Standard Chinese)+
      • Hanyu Pinyin: dǎpò shāguō wèn dàodǐ
      • Zhuyin: ㄉㄚˇ ㄆㄛˋ ㄕㄚ ㄍㄨㄛ ㄨㄣˋ ㄉㄠˋ ㄉㄧˇ
      • Tongyong Pinyin: dǎpò shaguo wùn dàodǐ
      • Wade–Giles: ta3-pʻo4 sha1-kuo1 wên4 tao4-ti3
      • Yale: dǎ-pwò shā-gwō wèn dàu-dǐ
      • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: daapoh shaguo wenn dawdii
      • Palladius: дапо шаго вэнь даоди (dapo šago vɛnʹ daodi)
      • Sinological IPA (key): /tä²¹⁴⁻²¹ pʰu̯ɔ⁵¹ ʂä⁵⁵ ku̯ɔ⁵⁵ wən⁵¹⁻⁵³ tɑʊ̯⁵¹ ti²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/

Idiom

打破砂鍋問到底

  1. to keep asking questions to get to the bottom of something

Synonyms
Dialectal synonyms of 打破砂鍋問到底 (“to keep asking questions to get to the bottom of something”) [map]
Variety Location Words
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) 打破砂鍋問到底
Cantonese Hong Kong 打爛砂盆問到篤
Hakka Xingning 打爛砂盆問到篤
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