十個煲九個蓋

Chinese

		ten	(a measure word); individual	pot or saucepan; to boil; cook or heat	nine	(a measure word); individual	cover; lid; top cover; lid; top; canopy; to build
trad. (十個煲九個蓋)		十	個	煲	九	個	蓋
simp. (十个煲九个盖)		十	个	煲	九	个	盖
Literally: “ten pots and nine lids”.

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): sap⁶ go³ bou¹ gau² go³ goi³

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• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: sap⁶ go³ bou¹ gau² go³ goi³
    • Yale: sahp go bōu gáu go goi
    • Cantonese Pinyin: sap⁹ go³ bou¹ gau² go³ goi³
    • Guangdong Romanization: seb⁶ go³ bou¹ geo² go³ goi³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɐp̚² kɔː³³ pou̯⁵⁵ kɐu̯³⁵ kɔː³³ kɔːi̯³³/

Idiom

十個煲九個蓋

1. (Cantonese) to have not enough resources to deal with the problems

Usage notes

九 (gau²) can be replaced with any number less according to the degree of inadequacy.

Synonyms

• 十個砂煲九個蓋／十个砂煲九个盖
• 十個煲得九個蓋／十个煲得九个盖
• 九個蓋冚十個煲／九个盖冚十个煲