老牛吃嫩草

Chinese

		old; aged; venerable old; aged; venerable; outdated; experienced; (affectionate prefix)	ox; cow; bull	eat; eradicate; destroy eat; eradicate; destroy; receive; stammer	tender; soft	grass; straw; draft (of a document) grass; straw; draft (of a document); careless; rough; manuscript; hasty
trad. (老牛吃嫩草)		老	牛	吃	嫩	草
simp. #(老牛吃嫩草)		老	牛	吃	嫩	草
Literally: “old cow eating young grass”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): lǎoniú chī nèncǎo

  (Zhuyin): ㄌㄠˇ ㄋㄧㄡˊ ㄔ ㄋㄣˋ ㄘㄠˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): lou⁵ ngau⁴ hek³ nyun⁶ cou²

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: lǎoniú chī nèncǎo
    • Zhuyin: ㄌㄠˇ ㄋㄧㄡˊ ㄔ ㄋㄣˋ ㄘㄠˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: lǎonióu chih nèncǎo
    • Wade–Giles: lao³-niu² chʻih¹ nên⁴-tsʻao³
    • Yale: lǎu-nyóu chr̄ nèn-tsǎu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: laoniou chy nenntsao
    • Palladius: лаоню чи нэньцао (laonju či nɛnʹcao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ni̯oʊ̯³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰʐ̩⁵⁵ nən⁵¹ t͡sʰɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: lou⁵ ngau⁴ hek³ nyun⁶ cou²
    • Yale: lóuh ngàuh hek nyuhn chóu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: lou⁵ ngau⁴ hek⁸ nyn⁶ tsou²
    • Guangdong Romanization: lou⁵ ngeo⁴ hég³ nün⁶ cou²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lou̯¹³ ŋɐu̯²¹ hɛːk̚³ nyːn²² t͡sʰou̯³⁵/

Idiom

老牛吃嫩草

1. May-December relationship; to rob the cradle; a romance where one partner is significantly older than the other

   另外一個老牛吃嫩草不會有好下場的原因是年齡的代溝。 [MSC, trad.]
   另外一个老牛吃嫩草不会有好下场的原因是年龄的代沟。 [MSC, simp.]

   Lìngwài yī ge lǎoniú chī nèncǎo bùhuì yǒu hǎo xiàchǎng de yuányīn shì niánlíng de dàigōu. [Pinyin]

   Another reason why robbing the cradle end badly is because of the generation gap.

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 老牛吃嫩草 (“to rob the cradle”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		老牛吃嫩草
Mandarin	Taiwan	老牛吃嫩草
Cantonese	Hong Kong	老牛食嫩草
Hakka	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	老牛食嫩草
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	老牛食嫩草
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	老牛食嫩草
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	老牛食嫩草
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	老牛食嫩草
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	老牛食嫩草

(when the male is younger than female): (Cantonese)煲老藕