無頭無尾

Chinese

		not have	head; (noun suffix)	not have	tail
trad. (無頭無尾)		無	頭	無	尾
simp. (无头无尾)		无	头	无	尾
Literally: “no head, no tail”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): wútóuwúwěi

  (Zhuyin): ㄨˊ ㄊㄡˊ ㄨˊ ㄨㄟˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): mou⁴ tau⁴ mou⁴ mei⁵
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): bô-thâu-bô-bé / bô-thâu-bô-bóe / bô-thâu-bô-bér

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wútóuwúwěi
    • Zhuyin: ㄨˊ ㄊㄡˊ ㄨˊ ㄨㄟˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wútóuwúwěi
    • Wade–Giles: wu²-tʻou²-wu²-wei³
    • Yale: wú-tóu-wú-wěi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wutourwuwoei
    • Palladius: утоуувэй (utouuvɛj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /u³⁵ tʰoʊ̯³⁵ u³⁵ weɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: mou⁴ tau⁴ mou⁴ mei⁵
    • Yale: mòuh tàuh mòuh méih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: mou⁴ tau⁴ mou⁴ mei⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: mou⁴ teo⁴ mou⁴ méi⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mou̯²¹ tʰɐu̯²¹ mou̯²¹ mei̯¹³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, General Taiwanese, Singapore)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bô-thâu-bô-bé
    • Tâi-lô: bô-thâu-bô-bé
    • Phofsit Daibuun: boi'tau'boi'bea
    • IPA (Xiamen): /bo²⁴⁻²² tʰau²⁴⁻²² bo²⁴⁻²² be⁵³/
    • IPA (Singapore): /bo²⁴⁻²¹ tʰau²⁴⁻²¹ bo²⁴⁻²¹ be⁴²/
    • IPA (Taipei): /bo²⁴⁻¹¹ tʰau²⁴⁻¹¹ bo²⁴⁻¹¹ be⁵³/
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Singapore)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bô-thâu-bô-bóe
    • Tâi-lô: bô-thâu-bô-bué
    • Phofsit Daibuun: boi'tau'boi'boea
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /bɤ²³⁻³³ tʰau²³⁻³³ bɤ²³⁻³³ bue⁴¹/
    • IPA (Singapore): /bo²⁴⁻²¹ tʰau²⁴⁻²¹ bo²⁴⁻²¹ bue⁴²/
  • (Hokkien: Singapore)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bô-thâu-bô-bér
    • Tâi-lô: bô-thâu-bô-bér
    • IPA (Singapore): /bo²⁴⁻²¹ tʰau²⁴⁻²¹ bo²⁴⁻²¹ bə⁴²/

Idiom

無頭無尾

1. (figurative, of a matter) to have no clue of the reason or cause; to be unclear; to be incomprehensible; to be nonsensical
2. (figurative) to be chaotic; to be messy; to be all over the place; to be ill-composed

Related terms

• 有頭有尾／有头有尾 (yǒutóuyǒuwěi)
• 有頭無尾／有头无尾 (yǒutóuwúwěi)
• 有始無終／有始无终 (yǒushǐwúzhōng)
• 虎頭蛇尾／虎头蛇尾 (hǔtóushéwěi)