紙老虎

See also: 纸老虎

Chinese

		paper	tiger; tractor
trad. (紙老虎)		紙	老虎
simp. (纸老虎)		纸	老虎

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): zhǐlǎohǔ

  (Zhuyin): ㄓˇ ㄌㄠˇ ㄏㄨˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zi² lou⁵ fu²
• Southern Min (Teochew, Peng'im): zua² lao⁶ houn²

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: zhǐlǎohǔ [Phonetic: zhǐláohǔ]
    • Zhuyin: ㄓˇ ㄌㄠˇ ㄏㄨˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jhǐhlǎohǔ
    • Wade–Giles: chih³-lao³-hu³
    • Yale: jř-lǎu-hǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jyylaohuu
    • Palladius: чжилаоху (čžilaoxu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʐ̩²¹⁴⁻²¹ lɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ xu²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: zi² lou⁵ fu²
    • Yale: jí lóuh fú
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzi² lou⁵ fu²
    • Guangdong Romanization: ji² lou⁵ fu²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡siː³⁵ lou̯¹³ fuː³⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: zua² lao⁶ houn²
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: tsuá lău hóuⁿ
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sua⁵²⁻³⁵ lau³⁵⁻¹¹ hõũ⁵²/

Noun

紙老虎

1. (literal and figurative) paper tiger

   • 一切反動派都是紙老虎。看起來，反動派的樣子是可怕的，但是實際上並沒有什麼了不起的力量。 [MSC, trad.]
     一切反动派都是纸老虎。看起来，反动派的样子是可怕的，但是实际上并没有什么了不起的力量。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 1946, 毛澤東 (Mao Zedong), 《和美國記者安娜·劉易斯·斯特朗的談話》 (Talk with the American Correspondent Anna Louise Strong), 《毛澤東選集》. English translation based on the Foreign Languages Press edition

     Yīqiè fǎndòngpài dōu shì zhǐlǎohǔ. Kàn qǐlái, fǎndòngpài de yàngzǐ shì kěpà de, dànshì shíjìshàng bìng méiyǒu shénme lebùqǐ de lìliàng. [Pinyin]

     All reactionaries are paper tigers. In appearance, the reactionaries are terrifying, but in reality they are not so powerful.