又要馬兒好，又要馬兒不吃草

Chinese

		(once) again; also; both... and... (once) again; also; both... and...; again	important; vital; to want important; vital; to want; to be going to; must; demand; ask; request; coerce	horse	good; well; be fond of		(once) again; also; both... and... (once) again; also; both... and...; again	important; vital; to want important; vital; to want; to be going to; must; demand; ask; request; coerce	horse	not; no	to graze; to browse
trad. (又要馬兒好，又要馬兒不吃草)		又	要	馬兒	好	，	又	要	馬兒	不	吃草
simp. (又要马儿好，又要马儿不吃草)		又	要	马儿	好	，	又	要	马儿	不	吃草
Literally: “to want one's horse to run fast without letting it graze”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yòu yào mǎr hǎo, yòu yào mǎr bù chīcǎo

  (Zhuyin): ㄧㄡˋ ㄧㄠˋ ㄇㄚˇㄦ ㄏㄠˇ , ㄧㄡˋ ㄧㄠˋ ㄇㄚˇㄦ ㄅㄨˋ ㄔ ㄘㄠˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jau⁶ jiu³ maa⁵ ji⁴ hou², jau⁶ jiu³ maa⁵ ji⁴ bat¹ hek³ cou²

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yòu yào mǎr hǎo, yòu yào mǎr bù chīcǎo [Phonetic: yòuyàomárhǎo,yòuyàomǎrbùchīcǎo]
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄡˋ ㄧㄠˋ ㄇㄚˇㄦ ㄏㄠˇ , ㄧㄡˋ ㄧㄠˋ ㄇㄚˇㄦ ㄅㄨˋ ㄔ ㄘㄠˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yòu yào mǎr hǎo, yòu yào mǎr bù chihcǎo
    • Wade–Giles: yu⁴ yao⁴ ma³-ʼrh hao³, yu⁴ yao⁴ ma³-ʼrh pu⁴ chʻih¹-tsʻao³
    • Yale: yòu yàu mǎr hǎu-, yòu yàu mǎr bù chr̄-tsǎu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yow yaw maal hao, yow yaw maal buh chybu
    • Palladius: ю яо мар хао, ю яо мар бу чицао (ju jao mar xao, ju jao mar bu čicao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /joʊ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ jɑʊ̯⁵¹ mɑɻ²¹⁴⁻³⁵ xɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ joʊ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ jɑʊ̯⁵¹ mɑɻ²¹⁴⁻²¹ pu⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʰʐ̩⁵⁵ t͡sʰɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jau⁶ jiu³ maa⁵ ji⁴ hou², jau⁶ jiu³ maa⁵ ji⁴ bat¹ hek³ cou²
    • Yale: yauh yiu máh yìh hóu, yauh yiu máh yìh bāt hek chóu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jau⁶ jiu³ maa⁵ ji⁴ hou², jau⁶ jiu³ maa⁵ ji⁴ bat⁷ hek⁸ tsou²
    • Guangdong Romanization: yeo⁶ yiu³ ma⁵ yi⁴ hou², yeo⁶ yiu³ ma⁵ yi⁴ bed¹ hég³ cou²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɐu̯²² jiːu̯³³ maː¹³ jiː²¹ hou̯³⁵ jɐu̯²² jiːu̯³³ maː¹³ jiː²¹ pɐt̚⁵ hɛːk̚³ t͡sʰou̯³⁵/

Idiom

又要馬兒好，又要馬兒不吃草

1. (figuratively) to have one's cake and eat it too; to ask someone else to do something excessively while not willing to give him/her anything

Synonyms

• 又要馬兒跑，又要馬兒不吃草／又要马儿跑，又要马儿不吃草
• 又要馬兒跑得好，又要馬兒不吃草／又要马儿跑得好，又要马儿不吃草
• (Wu) 又要馬兒走得好，又要馬兒勿吃草／又要马儿走得好，又要马儿勿吃草