黴國

See also: 霉国

Chinese

		bacteria; fungi; mouldy	country; state; nation
trad. (黴國/霉國)		黴/霉	國
simp. (霉国)		霉	国
Literally: “mouldy country”.

Etymology

A pun on 美國／美国 (Měiguó), as the first characters 美 (měi) and 黴／霉 (méi) are nearly or exactly homophonous in many Sinitic languages.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): Méiguó

  (Zhuyin): ㄇㄟˊ ㄍㄨㄛˊ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: Méiguó
    • Zhuyin: ㄇㄟˊ ㄍㄨㄛˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: Méiguó
    • Wade–Giles: Mei²-kuo²
    • Yale: Méi-gwó
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Meigwo
    • Palladius: Мэйго (Mɛjgo)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /meɪ̯³⁵ ku̯ɔ³⁵/

Proper noun

黴國

1. (neologism, derogatory, slang) United States