擢髮難數
Chinese
| pull out; select | hair | disaster; distress; to scold disaster; distress; to scold; difficult (to...); problem; difficulty; difficult; not good |
number; figure; to count number; figure; to count; to calculate; several; frequently; repeatedly | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (擢髮難數) | 擢 | 髮 | 難 | 數 | |
| simp. (擢发难数) | 擢 | 发 | 难 | 数 | |
| Literally: “so many that one cannot finish counting even with all strands of hair pulled out”. | |||||
Etymology
From Records of the Grand Historian:
- （須賈）曰：「擢賈之髮以續賈之罪，尚未足。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
- From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE
- (Xū Jiǎ) yuē: “Zhuó gǔ zhī fà yǐ xù gǔ zhī zuì, shàng wèi zú.” [Pinyin]
- Xu Jia said: “I have committed so many sins that it even if you pull away all my hair for counting them would not be enough.”
（须贾）曰：「擢贾之发以续贾之罪，尚未足。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
Pronunciation
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