無毒不丈夫

Chinese

		not have	poison; narcotics	not; no	husband; man; male
trad. (無毒不丈夫)		無	毒	不	丈夫
simp. (无毒不丈夫)		无	毒	不	丈夫

Etymology

Unknown. Attested since the Yuan Dynasty. Sometimes believed to be a corruption of 無度不丈夫 (“A great man should be able to forgive”), but this is likely a folk etymology.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): wúdú bù zhàngfū

  (Zhuyin): ㄨˊ ㄉㄨˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄓㄤˋ ㄈㄨ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): mou⁴ duk⁶ bat¹ zoeng⁶ fu¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wúdú bù zhàngfū [Phonetic: wúdú bú zhàngfū]
    • Zhuyin: ㄨˊ ㄉㄨˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄓㄤˋ ㄈㄨ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wúdú bù jhàngfu
    • Wade–Giles: wu²-tu² pu⁴ chang⁴-fu¹
    • Yale: wú-dú bù jàng-fū
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wudwu bu janqfu
    • Palladius: уду бу чжанфу (udu bu čžanfu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /u³⁵ tu³⁵ pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ ʈ͡ʂɑŋ⁵¹ fu⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: mou⁴ duk⁶ bat¹ zoeng⁶ fu¹
    • Yale: mòuh duhk bāt jeuhng fū
    • Cantonese Pinyin: mou⁴ duk⁹ bat⁷ dzoeng⁶ fu¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: mou⁴ dug⁶ bed¹ zêng⁶ fu¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mou̯²¹ tʊk̚² pɐt̚⁵ t͡sœːŋ²² fuː⁵⁵/

Proverb

無毒不丈夫

1. A great man will not refuse to do something vicious, cruel or immoral when it is necessary.

Usage notes

• Careless usage of this proverb may be considered obscene.