如臨深淵

Chinese

		as (if); such as	to face; to overlook; to arrive to face; to overlook; to arrive; to be (just) about to; just before	abyss; abyss; catastrophic situation
trad. (如臨深淵)		如	臨	深淵
simp. (如临深渊)		如	临	深渊
Literally: “like on the edge of an abyss”.

Etymology

See 戰戰兢兢／战战兢兢 (zhànzhànjīngjīng).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): rúlínshēnyuān

  (Zhuyin): ㄖㄨˊ ㄌㄧㄣˊ ㄕㄣ ㄩㄢ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jyu² lam⁴ sam¹ jyun¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: rúlínshēnyuān
    • Zhuyin: ㄖㄨˊ ㄌㄧㄣˊ ㄕㄣ ㄩㄢ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: rúlínshenyuan
    • Wade–Giles: ju²-lin²-shên¹-yüan¹
    • Yale: rú-lín-shēn-ywān
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: rulinsheniuan
    • Palladius: жулиньшэньюань (žulinʹšɛnʹjuanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʐu³⁵ lin³⁵ ʂən⁵⁵ ɥɛn⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jyu² lam⁴ sam¹ jyun¹
    • Yale: yú làhm sām yūn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jy² lam⁴ sam¹ jyn¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: yu² lem⁴ sem¹ yun¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jyː³⁵ lɐm²¹ sɐm⁵⁵ jyːn⁵⁵/

Idiom

(deprecated template usage) 如臨深淵

1. (figurative) to be extremely cautious