不可救藥

不可救藥

See also: 不可救药

Chinese

		cannot; should not; must not	to rescue; to remedy; to cure
trad. (不可救藥)		不可	救藥
simp. (不可救药)		不可	救药

Etymology

From the Classic of Poetry:

多將熇熇，不可救藥。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]

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多将熇熇，不可救药。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Duō jiāng hèhè, bùkějiùyào. [Pinyin]

But the troubles will multiply like flames, till they are beyond help or remedy.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): bùkějiùyào

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄨˋ ㄎㄜˇ ㄐㄧㄡˋ ㄧㄠˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): bat¹ ho² gau³ joek⁶
• Min Nan (POJ): put-khó-kiù-io̍h

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bùkějiùyào
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˋ ㄎㄜˇ ㄐㄧㄡˋ ㄧㄠˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: bùkějiòuyào
    • Wade–Giles: pu⁴-kʻo³-chiu⁴-yao⁴
    • Yale: bù-kě-jyòu-yàu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bukeejiowyaw
    • Palladius: букэцзюяо (bukɛczjujao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pu⁵¹ kʰɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ t͡ɕjoʊ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ jɑʊ̯⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: bat¹ ho² gau³ joek⁶
    • Yale: bāt hó gau yeuhk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: bat⁷ ho² gau³ joek⁹
    • Guangdong Romanization: bed¹ ho² geo³ yêg⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɐt̚⁵ hɔː³⁵ kɐu̯³³ jœːk̚²/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: put-khó-kiù-io̍h
    • Tâi-lô: put-khó-kiù-io̍h
    • Phofsit Daibuun: putqoy'kiuo'ioih
    • IPA (Xiamen): /put̚³²⁻⁴ kʰo⁵³⁻⁴⁴ kiu²¹⁻⁵³ ioʔ⁴/

Idiom

不可救藥

1. incurable; cureless; beyond cure
2. (figuratively) hopeless; beyond help; incorrigible

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 不可救藥 (“incurable; beyond cure; beyond help”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		不可救藥, 無可救藥, 無藥可救
Mandarin	Taiwan	無藥可救
	Singapore	無藥可救
Cantonese	Hong Kong	無藥可救, 冇得救
Hakka	Meixian	無救
Min Nan	Xiamen	無藥醫, 無醫
	Quanzhou	無醫
	Zhangzhou	無醫
	Tainan	無藥醫, 無醫
	Jieyang	無救泅
	Leizhou	無藥醫
Wu	Shanghai	嘸藥醫