大海撈針

See also: 大海捞针

Chinese

		ocean; sea; large bowl or wine cup	fish up	needle; pin; injection
trad. (大海撈針)		大海	撈	針
simp. (大海捞针)		大海	捞	针
Literally: “dredge up a needle from the vast ocean”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): dàhǎilāozhēn

  (Zhuyin): ㄉㄚˋ ㄏㄞˇ ㄌㄠ ㄓㄣ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): daai⁶ hoi² laau⁴ zam¹
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): tōa-hái-lô-chiam

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: dàhǎilāozhēn
    • Zhuyin: ㄉㄚˋ ㄏㄞˇ ㄌㄠ ㄓㄣ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: dàhǎilaojhen
    • Wade–Giles: ta⁴-hai³-lao¹-chên¹
    • Yale: dà-hǎi-lāu-jēn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: dahhaelhaujen
    • Palladius: дахайлаочжэнь (daxajlaočžɛnʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tä⁵¹ xaɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ lɑʊ̯⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂən⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: daai⁶ hoi² laau⁴ zam¹
    • Yale: daaih hói làauh jām
    • Cantonese Pinyin: daai⁶ hoi² laau⁴ dzam¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: dai⁶ hoi² lao⁴ zem¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /taːi̯²² hɔːi̯³⁵ laːu̯²¹ t͡sɐm⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tōa-hái-lô-chiam
    • Tâi-lô: tuā-hái-lô-tsiam
    • Phofsit Daibuun: doaxhayloiciafm
    • IPA (Xiamen): /tua²²⁻²¹ hai⁵³⁻⁴⁴ lo²⁴⁻²² t͡siam⁴⁴/

Idiom

大海撈針

1. to look for a needle in a haystack

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 大海撈針 (“to look for a needle in a haystack”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		大海撈針, 海底撈針, 水底撈針, 東海撈針
Mandarin	Taiwan	大海撈針, 海底撈針
	Singapore	海底撈針
Cantonese	Hong Kong	大海撈針
Hakka	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	海底摸針
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	海底摸針
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	海底摸針
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	海底摸針
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	海底摸針
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	海底摸針
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	海底摸針
Southern Min	Xiamen	大海摸針, 海底摸針
	Tainan	海底摸針