子丑寅卯

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Chinese

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child; son; (noun suffix)
child; son; (noun suffix); small thing; seed; egg; 1st earthly branch; 11 p.m.–1 a.m., midnight
 
2nd earthly branch; 1–3 a.m.; clown
2nd earthly branch; 1–3 a.m.; clown; surname
 
3rd earthly branch; 3–5 a.m. 4th earthly branch; 5–7 a.m.
trad. (子丑寅卯)
simp. #(子丑寅卯)

Pronunciation

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Idiom

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子丑寅卯

  1. (literally) zi, chou, yin and mao (the first four earthly branches)
  2. (figurative) underlying reasons or logic; main threads (of a complicated affair)
    費勁巴拉這麼資料看出子丑寅卯 [dialectal Mandarin, trad.]
    费劲巴拉这么资料看出子丑寅卯 [dialectal Mandarin, simp.]
    Wǒ fèijìnbālā de, kàn le zènme duō zīliào yě méi kànchū ge zǐ‐chǒu‐yín‐mǎo lai. [Pinyin]
    I still don't have a clue after trying hard to read all this material.

See also

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