一蟹不如一蟹

Chinese

	one; single; a one; single; a; (before verbs) as soon as, once; (before a noun) entire (family, etc.)	crab	to be not like; to be not equal to; to be not as good as to be not like; to be not equal to; to be not as good as; cannot compare to; to be inferior to	one; single; a one; single; a; (before verbs) as soon as, once; (before a noun) entire (family, etc.)	crab
trad. (一蟹不如一蟹)	一	蟹	不如	一	蟹
simp. ^#(一蟹不如一蟹)	一	蟹	不如	一	蟹
Literally: “each crab is smaller than the one before”.

Etymology

From Words of Aizi by Su Shi:

艾子行於海上，見一物圓而褊，且多足，問居人曰：「此何物也？」曰：「蝤蛑也。」既又見一物，圓褊多足，問居人曰：「此何物也？」曰：「螃蟹也。」又於後得一物，狀貌皆若前所見而極小，問居人曰：「此何物也？」曰：「彭越也。」艾子喟然嘆曰：「何一蟹不如一蟹也！」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

艾子行于海上，见一物圆而褊，且多足，问居人曰：“此何物也？”曰：“蝤蛑也。”既又见一物，圆褊多足，问居人曰：“此何物也？”曰：“螃蟹也。”又于后得一物，状貌皆若前所见而极小，问居人曰：“此何物也？”曰：“彭越也。”艾子喟然叹曰：“何一蟹不如一蟹也！” [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Su Shi, 《艾子雜說》 (Words of Aizi)

Àizǐ xíng yú hǎi shàng, jiàn yī wù yuán ér biǎn, qiě duō zú, wèn jūrén yuē: “Cǐ hé wù yě?” Yuē: “Qiúmóu yě.” Jì yòu jiàn yī wù, yuán biǎn duō zú, wèn jūrén yuē: “Cǐ hé wù yě?” Yuē: “Pángxiè yě.” Yòu yú hòu dé yī wù, zhuàngmào jiē ruò qián suǒ jiàn ér jí xiǎo, wèn jūrén yuē: “Cǐ hé wù yě?” Yuē: “Péngyuè yě.” Àizǐ kuìrán tàn yuē: “Hé yīxièbùrúyīxiè yě!” [Pinyin]

Aizi was strolling by the sea. He saw a round and flat creature with many legs. He asked a local person, "What is this?" "It's a swimming crab (Portunidae)," answered that person. Then Aizi saw another creature, also round and flat, with many legs. Aizi then asked, "What is this?" "It's a common crab (Brachyura)." After that Aizi saw another creature again. It looked like those he just saw but was very small. He asked, "What is this?" "It's an sesarmid crab (Sesarmidae)." Aizi then sighed and said, "Why each crab I saw is smaller than the one before?"

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): yī xiè bùrú yī xiè
(Zhuyin): ㄧㄒㄧㄝˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄖㄨˊ ㄧㄒㄧㄝˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): jat¹ haai⁵ bat¹ jyu⁴ jat¹ haai⁵

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: yī xiè bùrú yī xiè [Phonetic: yí xiè bùrú yí xiè]
  - Zhuyin: ㄧㄒㄧㄝˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄖㄨˊ ㄧㄒㄧㄝˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: yi siè bùrú yi siè
  - Wade–Giles: i¹ hsieh⁴ pu⁴-ju² i¹ hsieh⁴
  - Yale: yī syè bù-rú yī syè
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: i shieh buru i shieh
  - Palladius: и се бужу и се (i se bužu i se)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /i⁵⁵⁻³⁵ ɕjɛ⁵¹⁻⁵³ pu⁵¹ ʐu³⁵ i⁵⁵⁻³⁵ ɕjɛ⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: jat¹ haai⁵ bat¹ jyu⁴ jat¹ haai⁵
  - Yale: yāt háaih bāt yùh yāt háaih
  - Cantonese Pinyin: jat⁷ haai⁵ bat⁷ jy⁴ jat⁷ haai⁵
  - Guangdong Romanization: yed¹ hai⁵ bed¹ yu⁴ yed¹ hai⁵
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɐt̚⁵ haːi̯¹³ pɐt̚⁵ jyː²¹ jɐt̚⁵ haːi̯¹³/

Idiom

一蟹不如一蟹

each one is worse than the one before