踏破鐵鞋無覓處

Chinese

		to wear out iron shoes; to search high and low	not have	seek	a place; location; spot a place; location; spot; point; office; department; bureau; respect; to reside; to live; to dwell; to be in; to stay; get along with; to be in a position of; deal with
trad. (踏破鐵鞋無覓處)		踏破鐵鞋	無	覓	處
simp. (踏破铁鞋无觅处)		踏破铁鞋	无	觅	处
Literally: “One can wear out iron shoes searching for something with no success.”

Etymology

Comes from the phrase: 踏破鐵鞋無覓處，得來全不費工夫.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): tàpò tiěxié wú mìchù

  (Zhuyin): ㄊㄚˋ ㄆㄛˋ ㄊㄧㄝˇ ㄒㄧㄝˊ ㄨˊ ㄇㄧˋ ㄔㄨˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): daap⁶ po³ tit³ haai⁴ mou⁴ mik⁶ cyu³

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: tàpò tiěxié wú mìchù
    • Zhuyin: ㄊㄚˋ ㄆㄛˋ ㄊㄧㄝˇ ㄒㄧㄝˊ ㄨˊ ㄇㄧˋ ㄔㄨˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: tàpò tiěsié wú mìchù
    • Wade–Giles: tʻa⁴-pʻo⁴ tʻieh³-hsieh² wu² mi⁴-chʻu⁴
    • Yale: tà-pwò tyě-syé wú mì-chù
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tahpoh tieeshye wu mihchuh
    • Palladius: тапо тесе у мичу (tapo tese u miču)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰä⁵¹⁻⁵³ pʰu̯ɔ⁵¹ tʰi̯ɛ²¹⁴⁻²¹ ɕi̯ɛ³⁵ u³⁵ mi⁵¹⁻⁵³ ʈ͡ʂʰu⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: daap⁶ po³ tit³ haai⁴ mou⁴ mik⁶ cyu³
    • Yale: daahp po tit hàaih mòuh mihk chyu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: daap⁹ po³ tit⁸ haai⁴ mou⁴ mik⁹ tsy³
    • Guangdong Romanization: dab⁶ po³ tid³ hai⁴ mou⁴ mig⁶ qu³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /taːp̚² pʰɔː³³ tʰiːt̚³ haːi̯²¹ mou̯²¹ mɪk̚² t͡sʰyː³³/

Idiom

踏破鐵鞋無覓處

1. (xiehouyu) One will search high and low only to find it when one least expects to.