老虎屁股摸不得

Chinese

			feel with the hand; to touch; to stroke feel with the hand; to touch; to stroke; to grope; to feel (one's pulse); imitate; copy	must not; should not; not be allowed must not; should not; not be allowed; to not receive
trad. (老虎屁股摸不得)		老虎屁股	摸	不得
simp. #(老虎屁股摸不得)		老虎屁股	摸	不得
Literally: “no one dares to touch a tiger's backside”.

Etymology

不許人講話，老虎屁股摸不得，凡是採取這種態度的人，十個就有十個要失敗。 [MSC, trad.]

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不许人讲话，老虎屁股摸不得，凡是采取这种态度的人，十个就有十个要失败。 [MSC, simp.]

From: 1962, Mao Zedong, 《在擴大的中央工作会议上的講話》

Bùxǔ rén jiǎnghuà, lǎohǔ pìgu mō bùdé, fánshì cǎiqǔ zhè zhǒng tàidù de rén, shí gè jiù yǒu shí gè yào shībài. [Pinyin]

Anyone, who doesn't allow others to speak, like a tiger whose backside can never be touched by anyone, will always fail.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): lǎohǔ pìgu mō bùdé, lǎohǔ pìgǔ mō bùdé, lǎohǔ pìgu māo bùdé, lǎohǔ pìgǔ māo bùdé

  (Zhuyin): ㄌㄠˇ ㄏㄨˇ ㄆㄧˋ ˙ㄍㄨ ㄇㄛ ㄅㄨˋ ㄉㄜˊ, ㄌㄠˇ ㄏㄨˇ ㄆㄧˋ ㄍㄨˇ ㄇㄛ ㄅㄨˋ ㄉㄜˊ, ㄌㄠˇ ㄏㄨˇ ㄆㄧˋ ˙ㄍㄨ ㄇㄠ ㄅㄨˋ ㄉㄜˊ, ㄌㄠˇ ㄏㄨˇ ㄆㄧˋ ㄍㄨˇ ㄇㄠ ㄅㄨˋ ㄉㄜˊ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, standard in Mainland, variant in Taiwan)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: lǎohǔ pìgu mō bùdé [Phonetic: láohǔpìgumōbùdé]
    • Zhuyin: ㄌㄠˇ ㄏㄨˇ ㄆㄧˋ ˙ㄍㄨ ㄇㄛ ㄅㄨˋ ㄉㄜˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: lǎohǔ pìgů mo bùdé
    • Wade–Giles: lao³-hu³ pʻi⁴-ku⁵ mo¹ pu⁴-tê²
    • Yale: lǎu-hǔ pì-gu mwō bù-dé
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: laohuu pih.gu mho buder
    • Palladius: лаоху пигу мо будэ (laoxu pigu mo budɛ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ xu²¹⁴⁻²¹ pʰi⁵¹ g̊u¹ mu̯ɔ⁵⁵ pu⁵¹ tɤ³⁵/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, standard in Taiwan)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: lǎohǔ pìgǔ mō bùdé [Phonetic: láohǔpìgǔmōbùdé]
    • Zhuyin: ㄌㄠˇ ㄏㄨˇ ㄆㄧˋ ㄍㄨˇ ㄇㄛ ㄅㄨˋ ㄉㄜˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: lǎohǔ pìgǔ mo bùdé
    • Wade–Giles: lao³-hu³ pʻi⁴-ku³ mo¹ pu⁴-tê²
    • Yale: lǎu-hǔ pì-gǔ mwō bù-dé
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: laohuu pihguu mho buder
    • Palladius: лаоху пигу мо будэ (laoxu pigu mo budɛ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ xu²¹⁴⁻²¹ pʰi⁵¹ ku²¹⁴⁻²¹ mu̯ɔ⁵⁵ pu⁵¹ tɤ³⁵/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, variant)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: lǎohǔ pìgu māo bùdé [Phonetic: láohǔpìgumāobùdé]
    • Zhuyin: ㄌㄠˇ ㄏㄨˇ ㄆㄧˋ ˙ㄍㄨ ㄇㄠ ㄅㄨˋ ㄉㄜˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: lǎohǔ pìgů mao bùdé
    • Wade–Giles: lao³-hu³ pʻi⁴-ku⁵ mao¹ pu⁴-tê²
    • Yale: lǎu-hǔ pì-gu māu bù-dé
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: laohuu pih.gu mhau buder
    • Palladius: лаоху пигу мао будэ (laoxu pigu mao budɛ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ xu²¹⁴⁻²¹ pʰi⁵¹ g̊u¹ mɑʊ̯⁵⁵ pu⁵¹ tɤ³⁵/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, variant in Taiwan)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: lǎohǔ pìgǔ māo bùdé [Phonetic: láohǔpìgǔmāobùdé]
    • Zhuyin: ㄌㄠˇ ㄏㄨˇ ㄆㄧˋ ㄍㄨˇ ㄇㄠ ㄅㄨˋ ㄉㄜˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: lǎohǔ pìgǔ mao bùdé
    • Wade–Giles: lao³-hu³ pʻi⁴-ku³ mao¹ pu⁴-tê²
    • Yale: lǎu-hǔ pì-gǔ māu bù-dé
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: laohuu pihguu mhau buder
    • Palladius: лаоху пигу мао будэ (laoxu pigu mao budɛ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ xu²¹⁴⁻²¹ pʰi⁵¹ ku²¹⁴⁻²¹ mɑʊ̯⁵⁵ pu⁵¹ tɤ³⁵/

Idiom

老虎屁股摸不得

1. (colloquial, derogatory, figuratively) to be self-conceited or self-important; can't tolerate differing opinions; not to be provoked
   • [2011, Henry Kissinger, On China‎^[1], New York: Penguin Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, pages 368–369:

     Shortly after the war, Hua Guofeng summed up the outcome in a pithy phrase contemptuous of Soviet leaders: “As for threatening us, they did that by maneuvers near the border, sending ships to the South China Sea. But they did not dare to move. So after all we could still touch the buttocks of the tiger.”

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)]