哭笑不得

Chinese

		to cry and laugh	must not; should not; not be allowed must not; should not; not be allowed; to not receive
trad. (哭笑不得)		哭笑	不得
simp. #(哭笑不得)		哭笑	不得
Literally: “to not know whether to laugh or to cry”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): kūxiàobùdé

  (Zhuyin): ㄎㄨ ㄒㄧㄠˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄉㄜˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): huk¹ siu³ bat¹ dak¹
• Southern Min (Teochew, Peng'im): kao³ cio³ bug⁴ dig⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: kūxiàobùdé
    • Zhuyin: ㄎㄨ ㄒㄧㄠˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄉㄜˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: kusiàobùdé
    • Wade–Giles: kʻu¹-hsiao⁴-pu⁴-tê²
    • Yale: kū-syàu-bù-dé
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: kushiawbuder
    • Palladius: кусяобудэ (kusjaobudɛ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰu⁵⁵ ɕi̯ɑʊ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ pu⁵¹ tɤ³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: huk¹ siu³ bat¹ dak¹
    • Yale: hūk siu bāt dāk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: huk⁷ siu³ bat⁷ dak⁷
    • Guangdong Romanization: hug¹ xiu³ bed¹ deg¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hʊk̚⁵ siːu̯³³ pɐt̚⁵ tɐk̚⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: kao³ cio³ bug⁴ dig⁴
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: khàu tshiò puk tik
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰau²¹³⁻⁵⁵ t͡sʰio²¹³⁻⁵⁵ puk̚²⁻⁴ tik̚²/

Idiom

哭笑不得

1. to feel confounded, mildly dumbfounded, or slightly flabbergasted in a polite sense, usually toward a familiar person in an awkward situation