Chinese

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push; refuse (responsibility); shove
extort; knock; to strike
extort; knock; to strike; to knock (at a door); to hit
 
simp. and trad.
(推敲)
Literally: “to push or to knock”.

Etymology

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From the story of the Tang dynasty poet Jia Dao (779–843). Legend has it that one day while he was riding on his donkey, he was deliberating over the following line in his poem:

宿 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
宿 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
Niǎo sù chí biān shù, sēng tuī yuè xià mén. [Pinyin]
Birds built their nests by a serene pond up the tree;
Beneath the Moon, a monk pushes on the door wooden.

He was pondering whether the (“to push”) should be replaced by (“to knock”).

In fact, he was so engrossed in his deliberation that he did not notice an official's convoy coming, and ran straight into it. He was then taken for questioning on why he failed to avoid the convoy, and he explained that he was deep in thought about a poem he composed. The official whom Jia ran into was Han Yu, a famous Tang dynasty essayist and poet. After deliberation, Han said (“to knock”) would be a better word choice in this verse, since it highlights the quietness of the night. Jia regarded Han as his “one-character teacher” (一字師), followed his advice, and finalised verses of the poem.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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推敲

  1. to deliberate; to think over; to give a thought to; to weigh up; to scrutinize
    經不起推敲经不起推敲  ―  jīngbùqǐ tuīqiāo  ―  to be unable to stand up to scrutiny
    反覆推敲反复推敲  ―  fǎnfù tuīqiāo  ―  to repeatedly scrutinize

Synonyms

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Japanese

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Kanji in this term
すい
Grade: 6
こう
Hyōgai
on'yomi kan'on

Pronunciation

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Noun

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(すい)(こう) (suikōすいかう (suikau)?

  1. revising, polishing of a text
    (すい)(こう)(すい)(こう)(かさ)た。
    Suikō ni suikō o kasaneta.
    We made revision on top of revision.

Verb

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(すい)(こう)する (suikō suruすいかう (suikau)?transitive suru (stem (すい)(こう) (suikō shi), past (すい)(こう)した (suikō shita))

  1. revise, polish a text
    Synonym: 練り直す (nerinaosu)

Conjugation

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References

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  1. ^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
  2. ^ Yamada, Tadao et al., editors (2011), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Seventh edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  3. ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  • 2002, Ineko Kondō; Fumi Takano; Mary E Althaus; et. al., Shogakukan Progressive Japanese-English Dictionary, Third Edition, Tokyo: Shōgakukan, →ISBN.

Korean

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Hanja in this term

Noun

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推敲 (toego) (hangeul 퇴고)

  1. hanja form? of 퇴고