一知半解

Chinese

		one; single; a one; single; a; (before verbs) as soon as, once; (before a noun) entire (family, etc.)	to know; to be aware	half; semi-; incomplete half; semi-; incomplete; (after a number) and a half	to loosen; to untie; to explain to loosen; to untie; to explain; to remove; to divide; to dissolve; to solve; solution; send under escort
trad. (一知半解)		一	知	半	解
simp. #(一知半解)		一	知	半	解

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yīzhībànjiě

  (Zhuyin): ㄧ ㄓ ㄅㄢˋ ㄐㄧㄝˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jat¹ zi¹ bun³ gaai²
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): it-ti-poàn-kái / it-ti-pòaⁿ-kái

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yīzhībànjiě [Phonetic: yìzhībànjiě]
    • Zhuyin: ㄧ ㄓ ㄅㄢˋ ㄐㄧㄝˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yijhihbànjiě
    • Wade–Giles: i¹-chih¹-pan⁴-chieh³
    • Yale: yī-jr̄-bàn-jyě
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ijybannjiee
    • Palladius: ичжибаньцзе (ičžibanʹcze)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /i⁵⁵⁻⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ pän⁵¹ t͡ɕi̯ɛ²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jat¹ zi¹ bun³ gaai²
    • Yale: yāt jī bun gáai
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jat⁷ dzi¹ bun³ gaai²
    • Guangdong Romanization: yed¹ ji¹ bun³ gai²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɐt̚⁵ t͡siː⁵⁵ puːn³³ kaːi̯³⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: it-ti-poàn-kái
    • Tâi-lô: it-ti-puàn-kái
    • Phofsit Daibuun: itdi'poarnkae
    • IPA (Xiamen): /it̚³²⁻⁴ ti⁴⁴⁻²² puan²¹⁻⁵³ kai⁵³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /it̚³²⁻⁴ ti⁴⁴⁻³³ puan¹¹⁻⁵³ kai⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /it̚³²⁻⁴ ti⁴⁴⁻³³ puan²¹⁻⁴¹ kai⁴¹/
  • (Hokkien: variant in Taiwan)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: it-ti-pòaⁿ-kái
    • Tâi-lô: it-ti-puànn-kái
    • Phofsit Daibuun: itdi'pvoarkae
    • IPA (Taipei): /it̚³²⁻⁴ ti⁴⁴⁻³³ puã¹¹⁻⁵³ kai⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /it̚³²⁻⁴ ti⁴⁴⁻³³ puã²¹⁻⁴¹ kai⁴¹/

Idiom

一知半解

1. to sort of understand; to only halfway understand; to be unsure of the meaning (of a word or phrase)

   • 世上最可笑的是那些「知識裡手」，有了道聽塗說的一知半解，便自封為「天下第一」，適足見其不自量而已。 [MSC, trad.]
     世上最可笑的是那些「知识里手」，有了道听涂说的一知半解，便自封为「天下第一」，适足见其不自量而已。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 1937, 毛澤東 (Mao Zedong), 《實踐論》 (On Practice), 《毛澤東選集》. English translation based on the Foreign Languages Press edition

     Shìshàng zuì kěxiào de shì nàxiē “zhīshi lǐshǒu”, yǒu le dàotīngtúshuō de yīzhībànjiě, biàn zìfēng wéi “tiānxiàdìyī”, shì zújiàn qí bùzìliàng éryǐ. [Pinyin]

     The most ridiculous person in the world is the “know all” who picks up a smattering of hearsay knowledge and proclaims themselves “the world's Number One authority”; this merely shows that they have not taken a proper measure of themselves.

Synonyms

• 似懂非懂 (sìdǒngfēidǒng)