與虎謀皮

Chinese

	and; to give; together with and; to give; together with; take part in; (interrog. part.)	tiger	to plan; seek; scheme	leather; skin; fur
trad. (與虎謀皮)	與	虎	謀	皮
simp. (与虎谋皮)	与	虎	谋	皮
Literally: “to ask a tiger for its skin”.

Etymology

Originally 與狐謀皮／与狐谋皮 (yǔhúmóupí, “to ask a fox for its skin”). See the entry for details.

狐 (hú, “fox”) was replaced with 虎 (“tiger”) because the two characters have similar pronunciation. In addition, tiger is a fierce animal, making this form reflecting the meaning more.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): yǔhǔmóupí

(Zhuyin): ㄩˇ ㄏㄨˇ ㄇㄡˊ ㄆㄧˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): jyu⁵ fu² mau⁴ pei⁴

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: yǔhǔmóupí [Phonetic: yúhǔmóupí]
  - Zhuyin: ㄩˇ ㄏㄨˇ ㄇㄡˊ ㄆㄧˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: yǔhǔmóupí
  - Wade–Giles: yü³-hu³-mou²-pʻi²
  - Yale: yǔ-hǔ-móu-pí
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yeuhuumoupyi
  - Palladius: юйхумоупи (jujxumoupi)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /y²¹⁴⁻³⁵ xu²¹⁴⁻²¹ moʊ̯³⁵ pʰi³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: jyu⁵ fu² mau⁴ pei⁴
  - Yale: yúh fú màuh pèih
  - Cantonese Pinyin: jy⁵ fu² mau⁴ pei⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: yu⁵ fu² meo⁴ péi⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /jyː¹³ fuː³⁵ mɐu̯²¹ pʰei̯²¹/

Idiom

與虎謀皮

to request others (usually bad people) for something against their interests (which is impossible)

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