難兄難弟

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Chinese

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Etymology 1

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difficult; hard elder brother difficult; hard younger brother
trad. (難兄難弟)
simp. (难兄难弟)

Based on a tale in A New Account of the Tales of the World:

陳元方長文英才季方孝先,功德不能太丘。太丘:「元方,季方。」 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
陈元方长文英才季方孝先,功德不能太丘。太丘:「元方,季方。」 [Literary Chinese, simp.]
From: Liu Yiqing (editor), A New Account of the Tales of the World, 5th century CE
Chén Yuánfāng zǐ Chángwén yǒu yīngcái, yǔ Jìfāng zǐ Xiàoxiān, gè lùn qí fù gōngdé, zhēng zhī bùnéng jué, zī yú Tàiqiū. Tàiqiū yuē: “Yuánfāng nán wéi xiōng, Jìfāng nán wéi .” [Pinyin]
The talented son of Yuanfang (Chen Ji), Changwen (Chen Qun), argued with the son of Jifang (Chen Chen), Xiaoxian (Chen Zhong), about the merits and virtues of their fathers. Unable to settle their argument, they consulted Taiqiu (Chen Shi, mayor of Taiqiu County). Taiqiu said, "Jifang is too outstanding for Yuanfang to be his elder brother, and Yuanfang is too outstanding for Jifang to be his younger brother."

Pronunciation

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Rime
Character
Reading # 1/2 1/1 1/2 2/2
Initial () (8) (32) (7) (7)
Final () (61) (112) (39) (39)
Tone (調) Level (Ø) Level (Ø) Rising (X) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Open Closed Open Open
Division () I III IV IV
Fanqie
Baxter nan xjwaeng dejX dejH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/nɑn/ /hˠwiæŋ/ /deiX/ /deiH/
Pan
Wuyun
/nɑn/ /hʷᵚiaŋ/ /deiX/ /deiH/
Shao
Rongfen
/nɑn/ /xiuaŋ/ /dɛiX/ /dɛiH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/nan/ /hwiajŋ/ /dɛjX/ /dɛjH/
Li
Rong
/nɑn/ /xiuɐŋ/ /deiX/ /deiH/
Wang
Li
/nɑn/ /xĭwɐŋ/ /dieiX/ /dieiH/
Bernard
Karlgren
/nɑn/ /xi̯wɐŋ/ /dʱieiX/ /dʱieiH/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
nán xiōng
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
naan4 hing1 dai6 dai6

Idiom

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難兄難弟

  1. hard to tell who is better; to be as good; equally-matched two
  2. (ironic) of the same ilk; to be both bad
Synonyms
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Etymology 2

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disaster elder brother disaster younger brother
trad. (難兄難弟)
simp. (难兄难弟)

Pronunciation

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Idiom

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難兄難弟

  1. fellow sufferers; in the same boat
Synonyms
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