覆水難收

See also: 覆水难收

Chinese

		to cover; to overflow; to reply to a letter to cover; to overflow; to reply to a letter; to overturn; to capsize	water; river	disaster; distress; to scold disaster; distress; to scold; difficult (to...); problem; difficulty; difficult; not good	to receive; to accept; to collect to receive; to accept; to collect; in care of (used on address line after name)
trad. (覆水難收)		覆	水	難	收
simp. (覆水难收)		覆	水	难	收
Literally: “It is difficult to retrieve water after (its container) has been knocked over”.

Etymology

First attested in the Book of the Later Han.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): fùshuǐnánshōu

  (Zhuyin): ㄈㄨˋ ㄕㄨㄟˇ ㄋㄢˊ ㄕㄡ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): fuk¹ seoi² naan⁴ sau¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: fùshuǐnánshōu
    • Zhuyin: ㄈㄨˋ ㄕㄨㄟˇ ㄋㄢˊ ㄕㄡ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: fùshuěinánshou
    • Wade–Giles: fu⁴-shui³-nan²-shou¹
    • Yale: fù-shwěi-nán-shōu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: fuhshoeinanshou
    • Palladius: фушуйнаньшоу (fušujnanʹšou)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /fu⁵¹ ʂu̯eɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ nän³⁵ ʂoʊ̯⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: fuk¹ seoi² naan⁴ sau¹
    • Yale: fūk séui nàahn sāu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: fuk⁷ soey² naan⁴ sau¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: fug¹ sêu² nan⁴ seo¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /fʊk̚⁵ sɵy̯³⁵ naːn²¹ sɐu̯⁵⁵/

Idiom

覆水難收

1. there's no point crying over spilt milk