龜毛

See also: 龟毛

Chinese

		tortoise; turtle	hair; fur; one tenth of a yuan or dollar
trad. (龜毛)		龜	毛
simp. (龟毛)		龟	毛
Literally: “turtle hair”.

Etymology 1

Originally Hokkien. It is possibly a reference to 龜毛兔角／龟毛兔角 (guīmáotùjiǎo) ("an impossibility", literally "turtle fur and rabbit horns"), a Buddhist metaphor that describes hollow or specious logic.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): guīmáo

  (Zhuyin): ㄍㄨㄟ ㄇㄠˊ

• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): ku-mo͘

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: guīmáo
    • Zhuyin: ㄍㄨㄟ ㄇㄠˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: gueimáo
    • Wade–Giles: kuei¹-mao²
    • Yale: gwēi-máu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: gueimau
    • Palladius: гуймао (gujmao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ku̯eɪ̯⁵⁵ mɑʊ̯³⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ku-mo͘
    • Tâi-lô: ku-moo
    • Phofsit Daibuun: kumof
    • IPA (Xiamen): /ku⁴⁴⁻²² mɔ̃⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /ku³³ mɔ̃³³/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /ku⁴⁴⁻²² mɔ̃⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Taipei): /ku⁴⁴⁻³³ mɔ̃⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /ku⁴⁴⁻³³ mɔ̃⁴⁴/

Adjective

龜毛

1. (Southern Min, Taiwanese Mandarin, of someone's personality) picky; indecisive; high-maintenance (describes somebody with unreasonable expectations)

References

• (Min Nan) “Entry #12094”, in 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2023.

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): guīmáo

  (Zhuyin): ㄍㄨㄟ ㄇㄠˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gwai¹ mou⁴

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: guīmáo
    • Zhuyin: ㄍㄨㄟ ㄇㄠˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: gueimáo
    • Wade–Giles: kuei¹-mao²
    • Yale: gwēi-máu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: gueimau
    • Palladius: гуймао (gujmao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ku̯eɪ̯⁵⁵ mɑʊ̯³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: gwai¹ mou⁴
    • Yale: gwāi mòuh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gwai¹ mou⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: guei¹ mou⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʷɐi̯⁵⁵ mou̯²¹/

Noun

龜毛

1. male pubic hair

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 男陰毛 (“male pubic hair”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	屌毛
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	屌毛
Jiaoliao Mandarin	Yantai (Muping)	雞巴毛, 雞子毛, 屌毛
Central Plains Mandarin	Luoyang	雞巴毛, 屌毛, 㞗毛
	Xi'an	㞗毛
Lanyin Mandarin	Yinchuan	㞗毛
Cantonese	Hong Kong	鳩毛
Gan	Pingxiang	卵毛
Southern Min	Tainan	𡳞蔓
Zhongshan Min	Sanxiang	卵毛
Wu	Shanghai	卵毛
	Shanghai (Chongming)	卵毛
	Suzhou	卵毛
	Danyang	卵毛
	Hangzhou	卵毛

Related terms

• 龜頭／龟头 (guītóu)