快刀斬亂麻

Chinese

		sharp knife	behead; chop	tangled skein; tremendous muddle; jumble
trad. (快刀斬亂麻)		快刀	斬	亂麻
simp. (快刀斩乱麻)		快刀	斩	乱麻
alternative forms		快刀斬麻／快刀斩麻 快刀斷亂麻／快刀断乱麻 快刀斬亂絲／快刀斩乱丝

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): kuàidāo zhǎn luànmá

  (Zhuyin): ㄎㄨㄞˋ ㄉㄠ ㄓㄢˇ ㄌㄨㄢˋ ㄇㄚˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): faai³ dou¹ zaam² lyun⁶ maa⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: kuàidāo zhǎn luànmá
    • Zhuyin: ㄎㄨㄞˋ ㄉㄠ ㄓㄢˇ ㄌㄨㄢˋ ㄇㄚˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: kuàidao jhǎn luànmá
    • Wade–Giles: kʻuai⁴-tao¹ chan³ luan⁴-ma²
    • Yale: kwài-dāu jǎn lwàn-má
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: kuaydau jaan luannma
    • Palladius: куайдао чжань луаньма (kuajdao čžanʹ luanʹma)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰu̯aɪ̯⁵¹ tɑʊ̯⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂän²¹⁴⁻²¹ lu̯än⁵¹ mä³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: faai³ dou¹ zaam² lyun⁶ maa⁴
    • Yale: faai dōu jáam lyuhn màh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: faai³ dou¹ dzaam² lyn⁶ maa⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: fai³ dou¹ zam² lün⁶ ma⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /faːi̯³³ tou̯⁵⁵ t͡saːm³⁵ lyːn²² maː²¹/

Idiom

快刀斬亂麻

1. (figurative) to cut the Gordian knot; to solve a complex problem using a decisive and effective method

Descendants

• → Japanese: 快(かい)刀乱(とうらん)麻(ま)を断(た)つ (kaitō ranma o tatsu) (calque)