門可羅雀

Chinese

		opening; door; gate opening; door; gate; doorway; gateway; valve; switch; way to do something; knack; family; house; (religious) sect; school (of thought); class; category; (taxonomy) phylum or division	can; may; able to can; may; able to; certain(ly); to suit; (particle used for emphasis)	to collect; to gather; to catch to collect; to gather; to catch; to shift; gauze	bird; lentigo; sparrow
trad. (門可羅雀)		門	可	羅	雀
simp. (门可罗雀)		门	可	罗	雀
alternative forms		門堪羅雀／门堪罗雀
Literally: “can use a net to catch sparrows at the gate”.

Etymology

From a story in the Records of the Grand Historian:

始翟公為廷尉，賓客闐門；及廢，門外可設雀羅。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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始翟公为廷尉，宾客阗门；及废，门外可设雀罗。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE

Shǐ Zhái Gōng wéi tíngwèi, bīnkè tián mén; jí fèi, ménwài kě shè què luó. [Pinyin]

When Zhai Gong was a court official, guests filled his door, but when he was dismissed, a net could be used to catch sparrows outside his gate.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): ménkěluóquè

  (Zhuyin): ㄇㄣˊ ㄎㄜˇ ㄌㄨㄛˊ ㄑㄩㄝˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): mun⁴ ho² lo⁴ zoek³
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): mn̂g-khó-lô-chhiok

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: ménkěluóquè
    • Zhuyin: ㄇㄣˊ ㄎㄜˇ ㄌㄨㄛˊ ㄑㄩㄝˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: ménkěluócyuè
    • Wade–Giles: mên²-kʻo³-lo²-chʻüeh⁴
    • Yale: mén-kě-lwó-chywè
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: menkeeluochiueh
    • Palladius: мэнькэлоцюэ (mɛnʹkɛlocjue)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mən³⁵ kʰɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹ lu̯ɔ³⁵ t͡ɕʰy̯ɛ⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: mun⁴ ho² lo⁴ zoek³
    • Yale: mùhn hó lòh jeuk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: mun⁴ ho² lo⁴ dzoek⁸
    • Guangdong Romanization: mun⁴ ho² lo⁴ zêg³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /muːn²¹ hɔː³⁵ lɔː²¹ t͡sœːk̚³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: mn̂g-khó-lô-chhiok
    • Tâi-lô: mn̂g-khó-lô-tshiok
    • Phofsit Daibuun: mngqoyloichiog
    • IPA (Taipei): /mŋ̍²⁴⁻¹¹ kʰo⁵³⁻⁴⁴ lo²⁴⁻¹¹ t͡sʰiɔk̚³²/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /mŋ̍²³⁻³³ kʰɤ⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ lɤ²³⁻³³ t͡sʰiɔk̚³²/

Idiom

門可羅雀

1. (figurative) to have few visitors

Synonyms

• (Cantonese) 拍烏蠅／拍乌蝇

Antonyms

• 門庭若市／门庭若市 (méntíngruòshì)