班門弄斧

See also: 班门弄斧

Chinese

		Lu Ban	opening; door; gate opening; door; gate; doorway; gateway; valve; switch; way to do something; knack; family; house; (religious) sect; school (of thought); class; category; (taxonomy) phylum or division	to do; to manage; to handle to do; to manage; to handle; to play with; to fool with; to mess with; to fix; to toy with; lane; alley	hatchet
trad. (班門弄斧)		班	門	弄	斧
simp. (班门弄斧)		班	门	弄	斧
Literally: “brandish an axe at Ban's gate”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): bānménnòngfǔ

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄢ ㄇㄣˊ ㄋㄨㄥˋ ㄈㄨˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): baan¹ mun⁴ lung⁶ fu²
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): pan-bûn-lōng-hú / pan-bûn-lōng-pó͘

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bānménnòngfǔ
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄢ ㄇㄣˊ ㄋㄨㄥˋ ㄈㄨˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: banménnòngfǔ
    • Wade–Giles: pan¹-mên²-nung⁴-fu³
    • Yale: bān-mén-nùng-fǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: banmennonqfuu
    • Palladius: баньмэньнунфу (banʹmɛnʹnunfu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pän⁵⁵ mən³⁵ nʊŋ⁵¹ fu²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: baan¹ mun⁴ lung⁶ fu²
    • Yale: bāan mùhn luhng fú
    • Cantonese Pinyin: baan¹ mun⁴ lung⁶ fu²
    • Guangdong Romanization: ban¹ mun⁴ lung⁶ fu²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /paːn⁵⁵ muːn²¹ lʊŋ²² fuː³⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: pan-bûn-lōng-hú
    • Tâi-lô: pan-bûn-lōng-hú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: panbunloxnghuo
    • IPA (Xiamen): /pan⁴⁴⁻²² bun²⁴⁻²² lɔŋ²²⁻²¹ hu⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /pan⁴⁴⁻³³ bun²³⁻³³ lɔŋ³³⁻²¹ hu⁴¹/
    • IPA (Taipei): /pan⁴⁴⁻³³ bun²⁴⁻¹¹ lɔŋ³³⁻¹¹ hu⁵³/
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: pan-bûn-lōng-pó͘
    • Tâi-lô: pan-bûn-lōng-póo
    • Phofsit Daibuun: panbunloxngpor
    • IPA (Xiamen): /pan⁴⁴⁻²² bun²⁴⁻²² lɔŋ²²⁻²¹ pɔ⁵³/

Idiom

班門弄斧

1. (sometimes humble) to show off one's inferior talent or skill in front of an expert
2. to teach an expert how to do things

Synonyms

• 孔夫子門前賣文章／孔夫子门前卖文章
• 關公面前耍大刀／关公面前耍大刀 (Guāngōng miànqián shuǎ dàdāo)
• (Hokkien) 關帝爺面前舞關刀／关帝爷面前舞关刀

Descendants

• → Vietnamese: múa rìu qua mắt thợ (calque)