最後一根稻草

Chinese

		final; last; ultimate final; last; ultimate; finally; in the end; ultimately	one; single; a one; single; a; (before verbs) as soon as, once; (before a noun) entire (family, etc.)	radical (chem.); root; basis	rice straw
trad. (最後一根稻草)		最後	一	根	稻草
simp. (最后一根稻草)		最后	一	根	稻草

Etymology

Calque of English last straw.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): zuìhòu yī gēn dàocǎo

  (Zhuyin): ㄗㄨㄟˋ ㄏㄡˋ ㄧ ㄍㄣ ㄉㄠˋ ㄘㄠˇ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: zuìhòu yī gēn dàocǎo [Phonetic: zuìhòu yì gēn dàocǎo]
    • Zhuyin: ㄗㄨㄟˋ ㄏㄡˋ ㄧ ㄍㄣ ㄉㄠˋ ㄘㄠˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: zuèihòu yi gen dàocǎo
    • Wade–Giles: tsui⁴-hou⁴ i¹ kên¹ tao⁴-tsʻao³
    • Yale: dzwèi-hòu yī gēn dàu-tsǎu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tzueyhow i gen dawtsao
    • Palladius: цзуйхоу и гэнь даоцао (czujxou i gɛnʹ daocao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡su̯eɪ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ xoʊ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ i⁵⁵⁻⁵¹ kən⁵⁵ tɑʊ̯⁵¹ t͡sʰɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/

Noun

最後一根稻草

1. the last straw; the final straw
   • 2016 March 29, SS小燕之夜 [Small Swallow Xiaoyan Night]‎^[1], episode 1425, spoken by 邱永林:

     那兒子因為很多次的翹課，最後一根稻草是打架，就被退學了 [MSC, trad.]
     那儿子因为很多次的翘课，最后一根稻草是打架，就被退学了 [MSC, simp.]

     nà érzi yīnwèi hěnduō cì de qiàokè, zuìhòu yī gēn dàocǎo shì dǎjià, jiù bèi tuìxué le [Pinyin]

     So because the son had skipped class many times, the last straw was a fight, and then he was expelled

Related terms

• 壓倒駱駝的最後一根草／压倒骆驼的最后一根草 (yādǎo luòtuo de zuìhòu yī gēn cǎo)