塚中枯骨

See also: 冢中枯骨

Chinese

		mound	middle; centre; within middle; centre; within; among; in; while (doing sth); during; China; Chinese; hit (the mark)	withered; dried up	bone
trad. (塚中枯骨/冢中枯骨)		塚/冢	中	枯	骨
simp. (冢中枯骨)		冢	中	枯	骨
Literally: “dry bones in a grave”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): zhǒngzhōngkūgǔ

  (Zhuyin): ㄓㄨㄥˇ ㄓㄨㄥ ㄎㄨ ㄍㄨˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): cung² zung¹ fu¹ gwat¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: zhǒngzhōngkūgǔ
    • Zhuyin: ㄓㄨㄥˇ ㄓㄨㄥ ㄎㄨ ㄍㄨˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jhǒngjhongkugǔ
    • Wade–Giles: chung³-chung¹-kʻu¹-ku³
    • Yale: jǔng-jūng-kū-gǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: joongjongkuguu
    • Palladius: чжунчжункугу (čžunčžunkugu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʊŋ²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʈ͡ʂʊŋ⁵⁵ kʰu⁵⁵ ku²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: cung² zung¹ fu¹ gwat¹
    • Yale: chúng jūng fū gwāt
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tsung² dzung¹ fu¹ gwat⁷
    • Guangdong Romanization: cung² zung¹ fu¹ gued¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰʊŋ³⁵ t͡sʊŋ⁵⁵ fuː⁵⁵ kʷɐt̚⁵/

Idiom

塚中枯骨

1. a deadbeat; a useless person; a person without any power or influence

   • 孔融曰：「袁公路塚中枯骨，何足掛齒！」 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
     孔融曰：「袁公路冢中枯骨，何足挂齿！」 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     From: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, circa 14^th century CE

     Kǒng Róng yuē: “Yuán Gōnglù zhǒngzhōngkūgǔ, hézúguàchǐ!” [Pinyin]

     Kong Rong said, "Yuan Gonglu is a deadbeat; he's not even worth mentioning!"