牛皮燈籠

Chinese

		cattle hide; big talk; bragging cattle hide; big talk; bragging; boasting	Chinese lantern
trad. (牛皮燈籠)		牛皮	燈籠
simp. (牛皮灯笼)		牛皮	灯笼
Literally: “lantern made of cattle hide”.

Etymology

First part of a xiehouyu. The second part could be:

1. 點不明 (Mandarin) / 點極都唔明 (Cantonese) – cannot be lit / cannot be made to understand
2. 肚裡亮 – bright inside / understand in one's mind

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): niúpí dēnglong, niúpí dēnglóng

  (Zhuyin): ㄋㄧㄡˊ ㄆㄧˊ ㄉㄥ ˙ㄌㄨㄥ, ㄋㄧㄡˊ ㄆㄧˊ ㄉㄥ ㄌㄨㄥˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ngau⁴ pei⁴ dang¹ lung⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, standard in Mainland and Taiwan)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: niúpí dēnglong
    • Zhuyin: ㄋㄧㄡˊ ㄆㄧˊ ㄉㄥ ˙ㄌㄨㄥ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: nióupí denglo̊ng
    • Wade–Giles: niu²-pʻi² têng¹-lung⁵
    • Yale: nyóu-pí dēng-lung
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: nioupyi deng.long
    • Palladius: нюпи дэнлун (njupi dɛnlun)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ni̯oʊ̯³⁵ pʰi³⁵ tɤŋ⁵⁵ lʊŋ²/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, variant)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: niúpí dēnglóng
    • Zhuyin: ㄋㄧㄡˊ ㄆㄧˊ ㄉㄥ ㄌㄨㄥˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: nióupí denglóng
    • Wade–Giles: niu²-pʻi² têng¹-lung²
    • Yale: nyóu-pí dēng-lúng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: nioupyi denglong
    • Palladius: нюпи дэнлун (njupi dɛnlun)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ni̯oʊ̯³⁵ pʰi³⁵ tɤŋ⁵⁵ lʊŋ³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: ngau⁴ pei⁴ dang¹ lung⁴
    • Yale: ngàuh pèih dāng lùhng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ngau⁴ pei⁴ dang¹ lung⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: ngeo⁴ péi⁴ deng¹ lung⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ŋɐu̯²¹ pʰei̯²¹ tɐŋ⁵⁵ lʊŋ²¹/

Idiom

牛皮燈籠

1. stupid or stubborn person; someone who does not understand or listen to others
2. someone who understands in one's mind