大眼瞪小眼

Chinese

		big; great; huge big; great; huge; large; major; wide; deep; oldest; eldest; doctor	eye	stare at	small; tiny; few small; tiny; few; young	eye
simp. and trad. (大眼瞪小眼)		大	眼	瞪	小	眼

Etymology

Literally: the big eye stares at the small eye

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): dà yǎn dèng xiǎo yǎn

  (Zhuyin): ㄉㄚˋ ㄧㄢˇ ㄉㄥˋ ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄧㄢˇ

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: dà yǎn dèng xiǎo yǎn [Phonetic: dàyǎndèngxiáoyǎn]
    • Zhuyin: ㄉㄚˋ ㄧㄢˇ ㄉㄥˋ ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄧㄢˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: dà yǎn dèng siǎo yǎn
    • Wade–Giles: ta⁴ yen³ têng⁴ hsiao³ yen³
    • Yale: dà yǎn dèng syǎu yǎn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: dah yean denq sheau yean
    • Palladius: да янь дэн сяо янь (da janʹ dɛn sjao janʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tä⁵¹ jɛn²¹⁴⁻²¹ tɤŋ⁵¹ ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ jɛn²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/

Idiom

大眼瞪小眼

1. two people staring at each other; without knowing what to do