不知天高地厚

Chinese

		to not know; to have no idea of; to be ignorant of to not know; to have no idea of; to be ignorant of; to wonder if	as high as the heavens and as deep as the earth; the vastness of the world
trad. (不知天高地厚)		不知	天高地厚
simp. #(不知天高地厚)		不知	天高地厚
Literally: “to not know the height of the heavens nor the depths of the earth”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): bùzhī tiāngāodìhòu

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄨˋ ㄓ ㄊㄧㄢ ㄍㄠ ㄉㄧˋ ㄏㄡˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): bat¹ zi¹ tin¹ gou¹ dei⁶ hau⁵

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bùzhī tiāngāodìhòu
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˋ ㄓ ㄊㄧㄢ ㄍㄠ ㄉㄧˋ ㄏㄡˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: bùjhih tiangaodìhòu
    • Wade–Giles: pu⁴-chih¹ tʻien¹-kao¹-ti⁴-hou⁴
    • Yale: bù-jr̄ tyān-gāu-dì-hòu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bujy tiangaudihhow
    • Palladius: бучжи тяньгаодихоу (bučži tjanʹgaodixou)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pu⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ tʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵ kɑʊ̯⁵⁵ ti⁵¹⁻⁵³ xoʊ̯⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: bat¹ zi¹ tin¹ gou¹ dei⁶ hau⁵
    • Yale: bāt jī tīn gōu deih háuh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: bat⁷ dzi¹ tin¹ gou¹ dei⁶ hau⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: bed¹ ji¹ tin¹ gou¹ déi⁶ heo⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɐt̚⁵ t͡siː⁵⁵ tʰiːn⁵⁵ kou̯⁵⁵ tei̯²² hɐu̯¹³/

Idiom

不知天高地厚

1. to have an exaggerated opinion of one's abilities; to think one knows everything; to be ignorant

   • 再不說了。那原是我小時不知天高地厚，信口胡說，如今再不敢說了。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
     再不说了。那原是我小时不知天高地厚，信口胡说，如今再不敢说了。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     From: Cao Xueqin, Dream of the Red Chamber, mid-18^th century CE

     Zài bù shuō le. Nà yuánshì wǒ xiǎoshí bùzhītiāngāodìhòu, xìnkǒu húshuō, rújīn zài bùgǎn shuō le. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   • 如今年過知非，想起幼年這些不知天高地厚的話，真覺愧悔。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
     如今年过知非，想起幼年这些不知天高地厚的话，真觉愧悔。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     From: Wenkang, Ernü Yingxiongzhuan, 1878 CE

     Rújīn nián guò zhī fēi, xiǎngqǐ yòunián zhèxiē bùzhītiāngāodìhòu de huà, zhēn jiào kuì huǐ. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Synonyms

• 不知天高地下

References

• “Entry #21202”, in 重編國語辭典修訂本 [Revised Mandarin Chinese Dictionary] (in Chinese), National Academy for Educational Research (Taiwan), 2021.