空穴來風

Chinese

		emptied; leisure; air emptied; leisure; air; sky; empty; in vain	hole; cave	to come	wind; news; style wind; news; style; custom; manner
trad. (空穴來風)		空	穴	來	風
simp. (空穴来风)		空	穴	来	风
Literally: “Empty holes attract the wind”.

Etymology

From 《風賦》 by Song Yu:

枳句來巢，空穴來風。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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枳句来巢，空穴来风。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Song Yu, 《風賦》

Zhǐ gōu lái cháo, kōng xué lái fēng. [Pinyin]

A bent trifoliate orange tree will attract birds to nest; an empty hole will attract the wind.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): kōngxuéláifēng, kōngxuèláifēng

  (Zhuyin): ㄎㄨㄥ ㄒㄩㄝˊ ㄌㄞˊ ㄈㄥ, ㄎㄨㄥ ㄒㄩㄝˋ ㄌㄞˊ ㄈㄥ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): hung¹ jyut⁶ loi⁴ fung¹
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): khang-hia̍t-lâi-hong

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, standard in Mainland)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: kōngxuéláifēng
    • Zhuyin: ㄎㄨㄥ ㄒㄩㄝˊ ㄌㄞˊ ㄈㄥ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: kongsyuéláifong
    • Wade–Giles: kʻung¹-hsüeh²-lai²-fêng¹
    • Yale: kūng-sywé-lái-fēng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: kongshyuelaifeng
    • Palladius: кунсюэлайфэн (kunsjuelajfɛn)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰʊŋ⁵⁵ ɕy̯ɛ³⁵ laɪ̯³⁵ fɤŋ⁵⁵/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, standard in Taiwan; variant in Mainland)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: kōngxuèláifēng
    • Zhuyin: ㄎㄨㄥ ㄒㄩㄝˋ ㄌㄞˊ ㄈㄥ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: kongsyuèláifong
    • Wade–Giles: kʻung¹-hsüeh⁴-lai²-fêng¹
    • Yale: kūng-sywè-lái-fēng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: kongshiuehlaifeng
    • Palladius: кунсюэлайфэн (kunsjuelajfɛn)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰʊŋ⁵⁵ ɕy̯ɛ⁵¹ laɪ̯³⁵ fɤŋ⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: hung¹ jyut⁶ loi⁴ fung¹
    • Yale: hūng yuht lòih fūng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: hung¹ jyt⁹ loi⁴ fung¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: hung¹ yud⁶ loi⁴ fung¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hʊŋ⁵⁵ jyːt̚² lɔːi̯²¹ fʊŋ⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: khang-hia̍t-lâi-hong
    • Tâi-lô: khang-hia̍t-lâi-hong
    • Phofsit Daibuun: qanghiadlai'hofng
    • IPA (Xiamen): /kʰaŋ⁴⁴⁻²² hiɛt̚⁴⁻³² lai²⁴⁻²² hɔŋ⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /kʰaŋ³³ hiɛt̚²⁴⁻² lai²⁴⁻²² hɔŋ³³/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /kʰaŋ⁴⁴⁻²² hiɛt̚¹²¹⁻²¹ lai¹³⁻²² hɔŋ⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Taipei): /kʰaŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ hiɛt̚⁴⁻³² lai²⁴⁻¹¹ hɔŋ⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /kʰaŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ hiɛt̚⁴⁻³² lai²³⁻³³ hɔŋ⁴⁴/

Idiom

空穴來風

1. (of a rumour, literary, dated) to be not completely unsound; to have a basis for its existence
2. (of a rumour, in modern uses) to be completely unsound; to be utterly baseless