吃力不討好

Chinese

		tiring; exhausting; strenuous tiring; exhausting; strenuous; tired; exhausted	not; no	to ingratiate oneself with; to please; to court to ingratiate oneself with; to please; to court; to curry favour with
trad. (吃力不討好)		吃力	不	討好
simp. (吃力不讨好)		吃力	不	讨好

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): chīlì bù tǎohǎo

  (Zhuyin): ㄔ ㄌㄧˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄊㄠˇ ㄏㄠˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): hek³ lik⁶ bat¹ tou² hou²

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: chīlì bù tǎohǎo [Phonetic: chīlìbùtáohǎo]
    • Zhuyin: ㄔ ㄌㄧˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄊㄠˇ ㄏㄠˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: chihlì bù tǎohǎo
    • Wade–Giles: chʻih¹-li⁴ pu⁴ tʻao³-hao³
    • Yale: chr̄-lì bù tǎu-hǎu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chylih bu taohao
    • Palladius: чили бу таохао (čili bu taoxao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʰʐ̩⁵⁵ li⁵¹⁻⁵³ pu⁵¹ tʰɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ xɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: hek³ lik⁶ bat¹ tou² hou²
    • Yale: hek lihk bāt tóu hóu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: hek⁸ lik⁹ bat⁷ tou² hou²
    • Guangdong Romanization: hég³ lig⁶ bed¹ tou² hou²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hɛːk̚³ lɪk̚² pɐt̚⁵ tʰou̯³⁵ hou̯³⁵/

Idiom

吃力不討好

1. (idiomatic, of a task, etc.) arduous and thankless; strenuous and unrewarding