啞巴吃黃連——有苦說不出

Chinese

		mute person; dumb person; one who keeps silent mute person; dumb person; one who keeps silent; one who cannot speak freely	eat; eradicate; destroy eat; eradicate; destroy; receive; stammer	Chinese goldthread; rhizome of the Chinese goldthread		to have; there is; there are to have; there is; there are; to exist; to be	bitter; intensely; miserable bitter; intensely; miserable; painful	speechless; indescribable, unspeakable, inexpressible, ineffable
trad. (啞巴吃黃連——有苦說不出)		啞巴	吃	黃連	——	有	苦	說不出
simp. (哑巴吃黄连——有苦说不出)		哑巴	吃	黄连	——	有	苦	说不出
alternative forms		啞巴吃黃蓮——有苦說不出／哑巴吃黄莲——有苦说不出
Literally: “a mute person tasting ineffably bitter herbs”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yǎba chī huánglián, yǒu kǔ shuōbùchū

  (Zhuyin): ㄧㄚˇ ˙ㄅㄚ ㄔ ㄏㄨㄤˊ ㄌㄧㄢˊ , ㄧㄡˇ ㄎㄨˇ ㄕㄨㄛ ㄅㄨˋ ㄔㄨ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): aa² baa¹ hek³ wong⁴ lin⁴, jau⁵ fu² syut³ bat¹ ceot¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yǎba chī huánglián, yǒu kǔ shuōbùchū [Phonetic: yǎbachīhuánglián,yóukǔshuōbùchū]
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄚˇ ˙ㄅㄚ ㄔ ㄏㄨㄤˊ ㄌㄧㄢˊ , ㄧㄡˇ ㄎㄨˇ ㄕㄨㄛ ㄅㄨˋ ㄔㄨ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yǎbå chih huánglián, yǒu kǔ shuobùchu
    • Wade–Giles: ya³-pa⁵ chʻih¹ huang²-lien², yu³ kʻu³ shuo¹-pu⁴-chʻu¹
    • Yale: yǎ-ba chr̄ hwáng-lyán-, yǒu kǔ shwō-bù-chū
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yea.ba chy hwanglian, yeou kuu shuobuhbu
    • Palladius: яба чи хуанлянь, ю ку шобучу (jaba či xuanljanʹ, ju ku šobuču)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jä²¹⁴ b̥ä⁴ ʈ͡ʂʰʐ̩⁵⁵ xu̯ɑŋ³⁵ li̯ɛn³⁵ joʊ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ kʰu²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʂu̯ɔ⁵⁵ pu⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʰu⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: aa² baa¹ hek³ wong⁴ lin⁴, jau⁵ fu² syut³ bat¹ ceot¹
    • Yale: á bā hek wòhng lìhn, yáuh fú syut bāt chēut
    • Cantonese Pinyin: aa² baa¹ hek⁸ wong⁴ lin⁴, jau⁵ fu² syt⁸ bat⁷ tsoet⁷
    • Guangdong Romanization: a² ba¹ hég³ wong⁴ lin⁴, yeo⁵ fu² xud³ bed¹ cêd¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /aː³⁵ paː⁵⁵ hɛːk̚³ wɔːŋ²¹ liːn²¹ jɐu̯¹³ fuː³⁵ syːt̚³ pɐt̚⁵ t͡sʰɵt̚⁵/

Idiom

啞巴吃黃連——有苦說不出

1. to be unable to express one's discomfort; to be forced to suffer in silence

Synonyms

• (Cantonese) 啞仔食黃連——有苦自己知／哑仔食黄连——有苦自己知
• (Hakka) 啞子食苦瓜／哑子食苦瓜