矮子騎大馬——上下兩難

Chinese

		short person; dwarf	to ride (an animal or bike); to sit astride	big; great; huge big; great; huge; large; major; wide; deep; oldest; eldest; doctor	horse; surname		high and low; from top to bottom	both; two; some both; two; some; a few; tael	disaster; distress; to scold disaster; distress; to scold; difficult (to...); problem; difficulty; difficult; not good
trad. (矮子騎大馬——上下兩難)		矮子	騎	大	馬	——	上下	兩	難
simp. (矮子骑大马——上下两难)		矮子	骑	大	马	——	上下	两	难
Literally: “A dwarf riding a tall horse - getting on and off are both difficult”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): ǎizi qí dà mǎ, shàngxià liǎng nán

  (Zhuyin): ㄞˇ ˙ㄗ ㄑㄧˊ ㄉㄚˋ ㄇㄚˇ , ㄕㄤˋ ㄒㄧㄚˋ ㄌㄧㄤˇ ㄋㄢˊ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: ǎizi qí dà mǎ, shàngxià liǎng nán
    • Zhuyin: ㄞˇ ˙ㄗ ㄑㄧˊ ㄉㄚˋ ㄇㄚˇ , ㄕㄤˋ ㄒㄧㄚˋ ㄌㄧㄤˇ ㄋㄢˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: ǎizi̊h cí dà mǎ, shàngsià liǎng nán
    • Wade–Giles: ai³-tzŭ⁵ chʻi² ta⁴ ma³, shang⁴-hsia⁴ liang³ nan²
    • Yale: ǎi-dz chí dà mǎ-, shàng-syà lyǎng nán
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ae.tzy chyi dah maa, shanqshiah leang nan
    • Palladius: айцзы ци да ма, шанся лян нань (ajczy ci da ma, šansja ljan nanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀaɪ̯²¹⁴ d͡z̥z̩⁴ t͡ɕʰi³⁵ tä⁵¹ mä²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʂɑŋ⁵¹⁻⁵³ ɕi̯ä⁵¹ li̯ɑŋ²¹⁴⁻²¹ nän³⁵/

Idiom

矮子騎大馬——上下兩難

1. stuck between two difficult choices