咬文嚼字

Chinese

		bite; nip	language; culture; writing language; culture; writing; formal; literary; gentle	to chew	letter; symbol; character letter; symbol; character; word
simp. and trad. (咬文嚼字)		咬	文	嚼	字

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yǎowénjiáozì

  (Zhuyin): ㄧㄠˇ ㄨㄣˊ ㄐㄧㄠˊ ㄗˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ngaau⁵ man⁴ zoek³ zi⁶
• Southern Min (Teochew, Peng'im): ga⁶ bhung⁵ ziag⁴ ri⁷

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yǎowénjiáozì
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄠˇ ㄨㄣˊ ㄐㄧㄠˊ ㄗˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yǎowúnjiáozìh
    • Wade–Giles: yao³-wên²-chiao²-tzŭ⁴
    • Yale: yǎu-wén-jyáu-dz̀
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yeauwenjyautzyh
    • Palladius: яовэньцзяоцзы (jaovɛnʹczjaoczy)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ wən³⁵ t͡ɕi̯ɑʊ̯³⁵ t͡sz̩⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: ngaau⁵ man⁴ zoek³ zi⁶
    • Yale: ngáauh màhn jeuk jih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ngaau⁵ man⁴ dzoek⁸ dzi⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: ngao⁵ men⁴ zêg³ ji⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ŋaːu̯¹³ mɐn²¹ t͡sœːk̚³ t͡siː²²/
• Southern Min
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: ga⁶ bhung⁵ ziag⁴ ri⁷
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: kă bûng tsiak jī
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ka³⁵⁻¹¹ buŋ⁵⁵⁻¹¹ t͡siak̚²⁻⁴ d͡zi¹¹/

Idiom

咬文嚼字

1. to bite on phrases and chew on characters; to pay excessive attention to wording and choice of characters; to nitpick like a grammar Nazi; to talk pedantically