日本首相——左揗右揗

Chinese

		Japan	highest chancellor; prime minister; highest level chancellor		left	to wander; to move to and fro	right (-hand)	to wander; to move to and fro
trad. (日本首相——左揗右揗)		日本	首相	——	左	揗	右	揗
simp. #(日本首相——左揗右揗)		日本	首相	——	左	揗	右	揗
alternative forms		日本首相——左騰右騰／日本首相——左腾右腾 日本首相——佐藤右藤
Literally: “Prime Minister of Japan - Sato Uto/running to and fro”.

Etymology

A near-homophonic pun on the Cantonese pronunciation of the former Japanese Prime Minister Eisaku Sato's name 佐藤 (zo³ tang⁴), from Japanese 佐藤(さとう) (satō).

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jat⁶ bun² sau² soeng³, zo² tan⁴ jau⁶ tan⁴

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• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jat⁶ bun² sau² soeng³, zo² tan⁴ jau⁶ tan⁴
    • Yale: yaht bún sáu seung, jó tàhn yauh tàhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jat⁹ bun² sau² soeng³, dzo² tan⁴ jau⁶ tan⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: yed⁶ bun² seo² sêng³, zo² ten⁴ yeo⁶ ten⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɐt̚² puːn³⁵ sɐu̯³⁵ sœːŋ³³ t͡sɔː³⁵ tʰɐn²¹ jɐu̯²² tʰɐn²¹/

Idiom

日本首相——左揗右揗

1. (Cantonese) to be very busy such that one is rushing to everywhere

   你最近係咪做咗日本首相呀？ [Cantonese, trad.]
   你最近系咪做咗日本首相呀？ [Cantonese, simp.]

   nei⁵ zeoi³ gan⁶ hai⁶ mai⁶ zou⁶ zo² jat⁶ bun² sau² soeng³ aa³? [Jyutping]

   Are you busy recently?
   (Literally, “Have you become the prime minister of Japan recently?”)