臨淵羨魚

Chinese

		to face; to overlook; to arrive to face; to overlook; to arrive; to be (just) about to; just before	abyss	to envy	fish
trad. (臨淵羨魚)		臨	淵	羨	魚
simp. (临渊羡鱼)		临	渊	羡	鱼
Literally: “to stand on the edge of a pool and idly long for fish”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): línyuānxiànyú

  (Zhuyin): ㄌㄧㄣˊ ㄩㄢ ㄒㄧㄢˋ ㄩˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): lam⁴ jyun¹ sin⁶ jyu⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: línyuānxiànyú
    • Zhuyin: ㄌㄧㄣˊ ㄩㄢ ㄒㄧㄢˋ ㄩˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: línyuansiànyú
    • Wade–Giles: lin²-yüan¹-hsien⁴-yü²
    • Yale: lín-ywān-syàn-yú
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: liniuanshiannyu
    • Palladius: линьюаньсяньюй (linʹjuanʹsjanʹjuj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lin³⁵ ɥɛn⁵⁵ ɕi̯ɛn⁵¹ y³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: lam⁴ jyun¹ sin⁶ jyu⁴
    • Yale: làhm yūn sihn yùh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: lam⁴ jyn¹ sin⁶ jy⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: lem⁴ yun¹ xin⁶ yu⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lɐm²¹ jyːn⁵⁵ siːn²² jyː²¹/

Idiom

臨淵羨魚

1. to wish for something good but take no action to obtain it; irresoluteness

Derived terms

• 臨淵羨魚，不如退而結網／临渊羡鱼，不如退而结网 (lín yuān xiàn yú, bù rú tuì ér jié wǎng)