水內撈月

Chinese

		water; river	inside; inner; internal inside; inner; internal; within; interior	fish up	moon; month
trad. (水內撈月)		水	內	撈	月
simp. (水内捞月)		水	内	捞	月
alternative forms		水裡撈月／水里捞月
Literally: “to scoop (the reflection of) the moon out of the water”.

Pronunciation

• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): chúi-lāi-hô͘-ge̍h

---

• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chúi-lāi-hô͘-ge̍h
    • Tâi-lô: tsuí-lāi-hôo-ge̍h
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zuylaixho'geh
    • IPA (Xiamen): /t͡sui⁵³⁻⁴⁴ lai²²⁻²¹ hɔ²⁴⁻²² ɡeʔ⁴/

Idiom

水內撈月

1. (Xiamen Hokkien, figurative) to make a hopeless, futile or vain effort at doing something; to ask for the moon

Synonyms

• 水中撈月／水中捞月 (shuǐzhōng-lāoyuè)
• (Cantonese) 海底摸月