手足無措

Chinese

		hands and feet	helpless
trad. (手足無措)		手足	無措
simp. (手足无措)		手足	无措
Literally: “to have no way to move the hands or feet”.

Etymology

From the Analects

刑罰不中，則民無所措手足。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

刑罚不中，则民无所措手足。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Xíngfá bù zhòng, zé mín wú suǒ cuò shǒu zú. [Pinyin]

When punishments are not properly awarded, the people do not know how to move hand or foot.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): shǒuzúwúcuò

(Zhuyin): ㄕㄡˇ ㄗㄨˊ ㄨˊ ㄘㄨㄛˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): sau² zuk¹ mou⁴ cou³

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: shǒuzúwúcuò
  - Zhuyin: ㄕㄡˇ ㄗㄨˊ ㄨˊ ㄘㄨㄛˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: shǒuzúwúcuò
  - Wade–Giles: shou³-tsu²-wu²-tsʻo⁴
  - Yale: shǒu-dzú-wú-tswò
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shooutzwuwutsuoh
  - Palladius: шоуцзууцо (šouczuuco)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂoʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ t͡su³⁵ u³⁵ t͡sʰwɔ⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: sau² zuk¹ mou⁴ cou³
  - Yale: sáu jūk mòuh chou
  - Cantonese Pinyin: sau² dzuk⁷ mou⁴ tsou³
  - Guangdong Romanization: seo² zug¹ mou⁴ cou³
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɐu̯³⁵ t͡sʊk̚⁵ mou̯²¹ t͡sʰou̯³³/

Idiom

手足無措

to be at a loss for what to do

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.