老鼠屎

Chinese

		mouse and rat in general; cunning, deceitful person	stool; faeces
trad. (老鼠屎)		老鼠	屎
simp. #(老鼠屎)		老鼠	屎
Literally: “mouse excrement”.

Etymology

From the proverb 一粒老鼠屎，壞了一鍋粥／一粒老鼠屎，坏了一锅粥 (yī lì lǎoshǔshǐ, huài le yī guō zhōu, “One piece of mouse excrement spoiled one (whole) pot of rice congee.”)

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): lǎoshǔshǐ

  (Zhuyin): ㄌㄠˇ ㄕㄨˇ ㄕˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): lou⁵ syu² si²

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: lǎoshǔshǐ [Phonetic: láoshúshǐ]
    • Zhuyin: ㄌㄠˇ ㄕㄨˇ ㄕˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: lǎoshǔshǐh
    • Wade–Giles: lao³-shu³-shih³
    • Yale: lǎu-shǔ-shř
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: laoshuushyy
    • Palladius: лаошуши (laošuši)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ʂu²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ʂʐ̩²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: lou⁵ syu² si²
    • Yale: lóuh syú sí
    • Cantonese Pinyin: lou⁵ sy² si²
    • Guangdong Romanization: lou⁵ xu² xi²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lou̯¹³ syː³⁵ siː³⁵/

Noun

老鼠屎

1. (figurative) bad apple

See also

• 害群之馬／害群之马 (hàiqúnzhīmǎ)