鶏鳴狗盗

See also: 鷄鳴狗盗 and 鸡鸣狗盗

Japanese
Kanji in this term
鶏 鳴 狗 盗
けい
Grade: S		 めい
Grade: 2		 く
Hyōgaiji		 とう
Grade: S
kan’on goon kan’on
Alternative spelling
鷄鳴狗盜 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

Yoji jukugo (四字熟語). From Literary Chinese 雞鳴狗盜 (literally “chicken crows, dog steals”), based on a story of Lord Mengchang in the 史記 (Shiki, “Records of the Grand Historian”).[1][2][3]

Can be analyzable as a compound of 鶏鳴 (keimei, “cock cry”) +‎ 狗盗 (kutō, “sneak thief”).

Pronunciation
  • (Tokyo) けーめーくとー [kèéméékútóó] (Heiban – [0])[3]
  • IPA(key): [ke̞ːme̞ːkɯ̟ᵝto̞ː]

Noun

鶏(けい)鳴(めい)狗(く)盗(とう) • (keimei-kutō) 

  1. (idiomatic) a person, especially of a small caliber, who resorts to (or is only capable of) petty tricks

See also

References
  1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 1995, 大辞泉 (Daijisen) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  3. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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