三七二十一

Chinese

		three	seven	twenty-one; 21
trad. (三七二十一)		三	七	二十一
simp. #(三七二十一)		三	七	二十一
Literally: “three sevens beget twenty-one”.

Etymology

Originally a line in the Chinese multiplication table.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): sān qī èrshíyī

  (Zhuyin): ㄙㄢ ㄑㄧ ㄦˋ ㄕˊ ㄧ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): saam¹ cat¹ ji⁶ sap⁶ jat¹
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): sâm chhit ngi-sṳ̍p-yit

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: sān qī èrshíyī
    • Zhuyin: ㄙㄢ ㄑㄧ ㄦˋ ㄕˊ ㄧ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: san ci èrshíhyi
    • Wade–Giles: san¹ chʻi¹ êrh⁴-shih²-i¹
    • Yale: sān chī èr-shŕ-yī
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: san chi ellshyri
    • Palladius: сань ци эршии (sanʹ ci eršii)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sän⁵⁵ t͡ɕʰi⁵⁵ ˀɤɻ⁵¹ ʂʐ̩³⁵ i⁵⁵⁻⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: saam¹ cat¹ ji⁶ sap⁶ jat¹
    • Yale: sāam chāt yih sahp yāt
    • Cantonese Pinyin: saam¹ tsat⁷ ji⁶ sap⁹ jat⁷
    • Guangdong Romanization: sam¹ ced¹ yi⁶ seb⁶ yed¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /saːm⁵⁵ t͡sʰɐt̚⁵ jiː²² sɐp̚² jɐt̚⁵/
• Hakka
  • (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sâm chhit ngi-sṳ̍p-yit
    • Hakka Romanization System: sam´ qid` ngi siib id`
    • Hagfa Pinyim: sam¹ qid⁵ ngi⁴ sib⁶ yid⁵
    • Sinological IPA: /sam²⁴ t͡sʰit̚² ŋi⁵⁵ sɨp̚⁵ it̚²/
  • (Southern Sixian, incl. Meinong)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sâm chhit ngi-sṳ̍p-yit
    • Hakka Romanization System: sam´ qid` ngi siib (r)id`
    • Hagfa Pinyim: sam¹ qid⁵ ngi⁴ sib⁶ yid⁵
    • Sinological IPA: /sam²⁴ t͡sʰit̚² ŋi⁵⁵ sɨp̚⁵ (j)it̚²/

Idiom

三七二十一

1. (figurative) (to not care about) the actual situation; facts of the matter

Synonyms

• 三七廿一

Derived terms

• 不問三七二十一／不问三七二十一
• 不管三七二十一 (bùguǎn sān qī èrshíyī)
• 管他三七二十一 (guǎn tā sān qī èrshíyī)