竹籃打水

Chinese

		bamboo basket	to draw water; to copulate
trad. (竹籃打水)		竹籃	打水
simp. (竹篮打水)		竹篮	打水
Literally: “using a wicker basket to draw water”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): zhúlándǎshuǐ

  (Zhuyin): ㄓㄨˊ ㄌㄢˊ ㄉㄚˇ ㄕㄨㄟˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zuk¹ laam⁴ daa² seoi²

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: zhúlándǎshuǐ [Phonetic: zhúlándáshuǐ]
    • Zhuyin: ㄓㄨˊ ㄌㄢˊ ㄉㄚˇ ㄕㄨㄟˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jhúlándǎshuěi
    • Wade–Giles: chu²-lan²-ta³-shui³
    • Yale: jú-lán-dǎ-shwěi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jwulandaashoei
    • Palladius: чжуланьдашуй (čžulanʹdašuj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂu³⁵ län³⁵ tä²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ʂu̯eɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, erhua-ed) (竹籃兒打水／竹篮儿打水)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: zhúlánrdǎshuǐ [Phonetic: zhúlánrdáshuǐ]
    • Zhuyin: ㄓㄨˊ ㄌㄢˊㄦ ㄉㄚˇ ㄕㄨㄟˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jhúlánrdǎshuěi
    • Wade–Giles: chu²-lan²-ʼrh-ta³-shui³
    • Yale: jú-lánr-dǎ-shwěi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jwulaldaashoei
    • Palladius: чжуланьрдашуй (čžulanʹrdašuj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂu³⁵ lɑɻ³⁵ tä²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ʂu̯eɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: zuk¹ laam⁴ daa² seoi²
    • Yale: jūk làahm dá séui
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzuk⁷ laam⁴ daa² soey²
    • Guangdong Romanization: zug¹ lam⁴ da² sêu²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʊk̚⁵ laːm²¹ taː³⁵ sɵy̯³⁵/

Idiom

竹籃打水

1. (figurative) wild-goose chase; wasted effort

Derived terms

• 竹籃打水一場空／竹篮打水一场空

 

See also

• 徒勞／徒劳 (túláo)
• 徒勞無功／徒劳无功 (túláowúgōng)