飛蛾撲火

Chinese

		moth	rush on	fire; angry; fierce fire; angry; fierce; fiery; thriving
trad. (飛蛾撲火)		飛蛾	撲	火
simp. (飞蛾扑火)		飞蛾	扑	火
Literally: “a moth flies into the flame”.

Alternative forms

• 飛蛾投火／飞蛾投火
• 飛蛾赴火／飞蛾赴火

 

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): fēi'épūhuǒ

  (Zhuyin): ㄈㄟ ㄜˊ ㄆㄨ ㄏㄨㄛˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): fei¹ ngo⁴ pok³ fo²

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: fēi'épūhuǒ
    • Zhuyin: ㄈㄟ ㄜˊ ㄆㄨ ㄏㄨㄛˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: fei-épuhuǒ
    • Wade–Giles: fei¹-o²-pʻu¹-huo³
    • Yale: fēi-é-pū-hwǒ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: feierpuhuoo
    • Palladius: фэйэпухо (fɛjɛpuxo)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /feɪ̯⁵⁵ ˀɤ³⁵ pʰu⁵⁵ xu̯ɔ²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: fei¹ ngo⁴ pok³ fo²
    • Yale: fēi ngòh pok fó
    • Cantonese Pinyin: fei¹ ngo⁴ pok⁸ fo²
    • Guangdong Romanization: féi¹ ngo⁴ pog³ fo²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /fei̯⁵⁵ ŋɔː²¹ pʰɔːk̚³ fɔː³⁵/

Idiom

飛蛾撲火

1. (figurative) to court self-destruction; to look for someone's own demise

Synonyms

• 自取滅亡／自取灭亡 (zìqǔmièwáng), 自掘墳墓／自掘坟墓 (zìjuéfénmù)