馬馬虎虎

See also: 马马虎虎

Chinese

		horse; surname	horse; surname	tiger	tiger
trad. (馬馬虎虎)		馬	馬	虎	虎
simp. (马马虎虎)		马	马	虎	虎

Etymology

AABB-type reduplication of 馬虎／马虎 (mǎhu, “careless; not serious”) for emphasis.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): mǎmǎhǔhǔ, mǎmǎhūhū

  (Zhuyin): ㄇㄚˇ ㄇㄚˇ ㄏㄨˇ ㄏㄨˇ, ㄇㄚˇ ㄇㄚˇ ㄏㄨ ㄏㄨ

  (Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): мама-хўхў (mama-hwhw, I-II-II-I)

• Cantonese (Jyutping): maa^5-1 maa^5-1 fu^2-1 fu^2-1
• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): mâ-mâ-fú-fú / mâ-mâ-fù-fù

  (Meixian, Guangdong): ma¹ ma¹ fu² fu²

• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): má-má-hu-hu

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, standard in Mainland)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: mǎmǎhǔhǔ [Phonetic: mámǎhúhǔ]
    • Zhuyin: ㄇㄚˇ ㄇㄚˇ ㄏㄨˇ ㄏㄨˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: mǎmǎhǔhǔ
    • Wade–Giles: ma³-ma³-hu³-hu³
    • Yale: mǎ-mǎ-hǔ-hǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: maamaahuuhuu
    • Palladius: мамахуху (mamaxuxu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mä²¹⁴⁻³⁵ mä²¹⁴⁻²¹ xu²¹⁴⁻³⁵ xu²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, standard in Taiwan, common colloquial variant in Mainland)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: mǎmǎhūhū [Phonetic: mámǎhūhū]
    • Zhuyin: ㄇㄚˇ ㄇㄚˇ ㄏㄨ ㄏㄨ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: mǎmǎhuhu
    • Wade–Giles: ma³-ma³-hu¹-hu¹
    • Yale: mǎ-mǎ-hū-hū
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: maamaahuhu
    • Palladius: мамахуху (mamaxuxu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mä²¹⁴⁻³⁵ mä²¹⁴⁻²¹ xu⁵⁵ xu⁵⁵/
  • (Dungan)
    • Cyrillic and Wiktionary: мама-хўхў (mama-hwhw, I-II-II-I)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ma²⁴ ma⁵¹ xu⁵¹ xu²⁴/

    (Note: Dungan pronunciation is currently experimental and may be inaccurate.)

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: maa^5-1 maa^5-1 fu^2-1 fu^2-1
    • Yale: mā mā fū fū
    • Cantonese Pinyin: maa^5-1 maa^5-1 fu^2-1 fu^2-1
    • Guangdong Romanization: ma^5-1 ma^5-1 fu^2-1 fu^2-1
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /maː¹³⁻⁵⁵ maː¹³⁻⁵⁵ fuː³⁵⁻⁵⁵ fuː³⁵⁻⁵⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: mâ-mâ-fú-fú
    • Hakka Romanization System: ma´ ma´ fu` fu`
    • Hagfa Pinyim: ma¹ ma¹ fu³ fu³
    • Sinological IPA: /ma²⁴⁻¹¹ ma²⁴ fu³¹ fu³¹/
  • (Southern Sixian, incl. Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: mâ-mâ-fù-fù
    • Hakka Romanization System: ma´ ma´ fuˇ fuˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: ma¹ ma¹ fu² fu²
    • Sinological IPA: /ma²⁴⁻¹¹ ma²⁴ fu¹¹ fu¹¹/
  • (Meixian)
    • Guangdong: ma¹ ma¹ fu² fu²
    • Sinological IPA: /ma⁴⁴ ma⁴⁴⁻³⁵ fu¹¹ fu¹¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: má-má-hu-hu
    • Tâi-lô: má-má-hu-hu
    • Phofsit Daibuun: mafmafhu'hw
    • IPA (Xiamen): /mã⁵³⁻⁴⁴ mã⁵³⁻⁴⁴ hu⁴⁴⁻²² hu⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /mã⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ mã⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ hu³³ hu³³/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /mã⁵³⁻⁴⁴ mã⁵³⁻⁴⁴ hu⁴⁴⁻²² hu⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Taipei): /mã⁵³⁻⁴⁴ mã⁵³⁻⁴⁴ hu⁴⁴⁻³³ hu⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /mã⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ mã⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ hu⁴⁴⁻³³ hu⁴⁴/

Adjective

馬馬虎虎

1. careless; sloppy
2. so-so; neither good nor bad

   你的中文馬馬虎虎，你應該多學習。 [MSC, trad.]
   你的中文马马虎虎，你应该多学习。 [MSC, simp.]

   Nǐ de Zhōngwén mǎmǎhūhū, nǐ yīnggāi duō xuéxí. [Pinyin]

   Your Chinese is so-so, you should study more.

Synonyms

• (careless): (Jin) 二馬一虎／二马一虎; (Hokkien) 雖罔仔／虽罔仔
• (so-so):

• 一般 (yībān)
• 不大離／不大离 (bùdàlí) (regional)
• 勉強／勉强
• 巴巴結結／巴巴结结 (bāba-jiējiē) (regional)
• 平常 (píngcháng) (euphemistic)
• 湊合／凑合 (colloquial)
• 說得過去／说得过去 (shuōdeguòqù)
• 過得去／过得去 (guòdeqù)
• 還可以／还可以 (háikěyǐ)
• 還好／还好 (háihǎo)

 

Further reading

• “Entry #6880”, 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.