珍珠都冇咁真

Chinese

		pearl; tapioca pearl	metropolis; capital city; all metropolis; capital city; all; both (if two things are involved); entirely; even; already	not have (dialectal)	(Cantonese) so	real; true; genuine
trad. (珍珠都冇咁真/珍珠都冇咁眞)		珍珠	都	冇	咁	真/眞
simp. (珍珠都冇咁真)		珍珠	都	冇	咁	真
Literally: “even pearls are not as real”.

Etymology

A pun on the first syllable of 珍珠 (zan¹ zyu¹) and 真 (zan¹).

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zan¹ zyu¹ dou¹ mou⁵ gam³ zan¹

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• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: zan¹ zyu¹ dou¹ mou⁵ gam³ zan¹
    • Yale: jān jyū dōu móuh gam jān
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzan¹ dzy¹ dou¹ mou⁵ gam³ dzan¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: zen¹ ju¹ dou¹ mou⁵ gem³ zen¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sɐn⁵⁵ t͡syː⁵⁵ tou̯⁵⁵ mou̯¹³ kɐm³³ t͡sɐn⁵⁵/

Idiom

珍珠都冇咁真

1. (Cantonese) completely true; absolutely real