花拳繡腿

Chinese

		flower; blossom; to spend flower; blossom; to spend; fancy pattern	fist	to embroider	leg
trad. (花拳繡腿)		花	拳	繡	腿
simp. (花拳绣腿)		花	拳	绣	腿
Literally: “flowery fist with fancy footwork”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): huāquánxiùtuǐ

  (Zhuyin): ㄏㄨㄚ ㄑㄩㄢˊ ㄒㄧㄡˋ ㄊㄨㄟˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): faa¹ kyun⁴ sau³ teoi²

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: huāquánxiùtuǐ
    • Zhuyin: ㄏㄨㄚ ㄑㄩㄢˊ ㄒㄧㄡˋ ㄊㄨㄟˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: huacyuánsiòutuěi
    • Wade–Giles: hua¹-chʻüan²-hsiu⁴-tʻui³
    • Yale: hwā-chywán-syòu-twěi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: huachyuanshiowtoei
    • Palladius: хуацюаньсютуй (xuacjuanʹsjutuj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /xu̯ä⁵⁵ t͡ɕʰy̯ɛn³⁵ ɕi̯oʊ̯⁵¹ tʰu̯eɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: faa¹ kyun⁴ sau³ teoi²
    • Yale: fā kyùhn sau téui
    • Cantonese Pinyin: faa¹ kyn⁴ sau³ toey²
    • Guangdong Romanization: fa¹ kün⁴ seo³ têu²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /faː⁵⁵ kʰyːn²¹ sɐu̯³³ tʰɵy̯³⁵/

Idiom

花拳繡腿

1. highly embellished and ineffectual; fancy but impractical skills; all show and no go; pugilistic