寧為雞頭，不做鳳尾

See also: 宁为鸡头，不做凤尾

Chinese

		peaceful; rather; Ningxia (abbrev.)	because of; for; to because of; for; to; act as; take...to be; to be; to do; to serve as; to become	chicken head; foxnut		not; no	to do; to make; to produce	male fenghuang	tail
trad. (寧為雞頭，不做鳳尾/寧爲鷄頭，不做鳳尾)		寧	為/爲	雞頭/鷄頭	，	不	做	鳳	尾
simp. (宁为鸡头，不做凤尾)		宁	为	鸡头	，	不	做	凤	尾

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): nìng wéi jītóu, bù zuò fèngwěi

  (Zhuyin): ㄋㄧㄥˋ ㄨㄟˊ ㄐㄧ ㄊㄡˊ , ㄅㄨˋ ㄗㄨㄛˋ ㄈㄥˋ ㄨㄟˇ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: nìng wéi jītóu, bù zuò fèngwěi [Phonetic: nìng wéi jītóu, bú zuò fèngwěi]
    • Zhuyin: ㄋㄧㄥˋ ㄨㄟˊ ㄐㄧ ㄊㄡˊ , ㄅㄨˋ ㄗㄨㄛˋ ㄈㄥˋ ㄨㄟˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: nìng wéi jitóu, bù zuò fòngwěi
    • Wade–Giles: ning⁴ wei² chi¹-tʻou², pu⁴ tso⁴ fêng⁴-wei³
    • Yale: nìng wéi jī-tóu-, bù dzwò fèng-wěi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ninq wei jitour, bu tzuoh fenqwoei
    • Palladius: нин вэй цзитоу, бу цзо фэнвэй (nin vɛj czitou, bu czo fɛnvɛj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /niŋ⁵¹ weɪ̯³⁵ t͡ɕi⁵⁵ tʰoʊ̯³⁵ pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ t͡su̯ɔ⁵¹⁻⁵³ fɤŋ⁵¹ weɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/

Idiom

寧為雞頭，不做鳳尾

1. to prefer to stand out from a mediocre crowd than to be a nobody among an exceptional crowd

Related terms

• 寧為雞口，無為牛後／宁为鸡口，无为牛后 (níng wéi jīkǒu, wú wéi níuhòu)