鐵飯碗

See also: 铁饭碗

Chinese

		iron	bowl of rice; rice bowl
trad. (鐵飯碗)		鐵	飯碗
simp. (铁饭碗)		铁	饭碗

Etymology

The idea of the “rice bowl” is the rough Chinese equivalent of one's “bread and butter”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): tiěfànwǎn

  (Zhuyin): ㄊㄧㄝˇ ㄈㄢˋ ㄨㄢˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): tit³ faan⁶ wun²
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): thih-pn̄g-óaⁿ / thih-pūiⁿ-óaⁿ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: tiěfànwǎn
    • Zhuyin: ㄊㄧㄝˇ ㄈㄢˋ ㄨㄢˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: tiěfànwǎn
    • Wade–Giles: tʻieh³-fan⁴-wan³
    • Yale: tyě-fàn-wǎn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tieefannwoan
    • Palladius: тефаньвань (tefanʹvanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰi̯ɛ²¹⁴⁻²¹ fän⁵¹ wän²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, erhua-ed)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: tiěfànwǎnr
    • Zhuyin: ㄊㄧㄝˇ ㄈㄢˋ ㄨㄢˇㄦ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: tiěfànwǎnr
    • Wade–Giles: tʻieh³-fan⁴-wan³-ʼrh
    • Yale: tyě-fàn-wǎnr
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tieefannwoal
    • Palladius: тефаньваньр (tefanʹvanʹr)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰi̯ɛ²¹⁴⁻²¹ fän⁵¹ wɑɻ²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: tit³ faan⁶ wun²
    • Yale: tit faahn wún
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tit⁸ faan⁶ wun²
    • Guangdong Romanization: tid³ fan⁶ wun²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰiːt̚³ faːn²² wuːn³⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: thih-pn̄g-óaⁿ
    • Tâi-lô: thih-pn̄g-uánn
    • Phofsit Daibuun: tihp'ngx'voar
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /tʰi(ʔ)³²⁻⁴¹ pŋ̍³³⁻²¹ uã⁴¹/
    • IPA (Taipei): /tʰi(ʔ)³²⁻⁵³ pŋ̍³³⁻¹¹ uã⁵³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /tʰi(ʔ)⁵ pŋ̍⁴¹⁻²² uã⁵⁵⁴/
    • IPA (Xiamen): /tʰi(ʔ)³²⁻⁵³ pŋ̍²²⁻²¹ uã⁵³/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: thih-pūiⁿ-óaⁿ
    • Tâi-lô: thih-puīnn-uánn
    • Phofsit Daibuun: tihpvuix'voar
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /tʰi(ʔ)³²⁻⁵³ puĩ²²⁻²¹ uã⁵³/

Noun

鐵飯碗

1. (literally) iron rice bowl
2. (figurative) secure job; job for life; job security