鐵拐李踢足球——一腳踢

Chinese

		Li Tieguai	kick; play (football or soccer)	football; association football; soccer football; association football; soccer; football; soccer ball		one leg kicks all; to do something entirely by oneself; to be in a one-man band
trad. (鐵拐李踢足球——一腳踢)		鐵拐李	踢	足球	——	一腳踢
simp. (铁拐李踢足球——一脚踢)		铁拐李	踢	足球	——	一脚踢
Literally: “Tieguai Li plays football - kicks only with one leg”.

Etymology

Tieguai Li is a deity in Chinese legend who had a lame leg and walked with an iron walking stick. If he plays football, he could only kick with one leg.

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): tit³ gwaai² lei⁵ tek³ zuk¹ kau⁴, jat¹ goek³ tek³

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• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: tit³ gwaai² lei⁵ tek³ zuk¹ kau⁴, jat¹ goek³ tek³
    • Yale: tit gwáai léih tek jūk kàuh, yāt geuk tek
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tit⁸ gwaai² lei⁵ tek⁸ dzuk⁷ kau⁴, jat⁷ goek⁸ tek⁸
    • Guangdong Romanization: tid³ guai² léi⁵ tég³ zug¹ keo⁴, yed¹ gêg³ tég³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰiːt̚³ kʷaːi̯³⁵ lei̯¹³ tʰɛːk̚³ t͡sʊk̚⁵ kʰɐu̯²¹ jɐt̚⁵ kœːk̚³ tʰɛːk̚³/

Idiom

鐵拐李踢足球——一腳踢

1. (Cantonese) to do something entirely by oneself (when it can be done by more people); to be in a one-man band