切中肯綮

切中肯綮

Chinese

		close to; to cut; to slice	middle; center; within middle; center; within; among; in; while (doing sth); during; China; Chinese; hit (the mark)	place where muscle and bone link; key point; crux
trad. (切中肯綮)		切	中	肯綮
simp. #(切中肯綮)		切	中	肯綮

Etymology

From a fable in 《莊子·養生主》. In the story, a skilled cook said that when he was butchering:

技經肯綮之未嘗。 / 技经肯綮之未尝。  ―  Jì jīng kěnqìng zhī wèicháng.  ―  I never cut where muscles and bones attach.

So his butcher knife would not break easily.

The modern term, which literally means "to exactly cut where muscles and bones attach", is completely opposite to the original fable's theme.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): qièzhòngkěnqìng

  (Zhuyin): ㄑㄧㄝˋ ㄓㄨㄥˋ ㄎㄣˇ ㄑㄧㄥˋ

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: qièzhòngkěnqìng
    • Zhuyin: ㄑㄧㄝˋ ㄓㄨㄥˋ ㄎㄣˇ ㄑㄧㄥˋ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chiehjonqkeenchinq
    • Tongyong Pinyin: cièjhòngkěncìng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕʰjɛ⁵¹⁻⁵³ ʈ͡ʂʊŋ⁵¹ kʰən²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ t͡ɕʰiŋ⁵¹/

Verb

切中肯綮

1. to be pertinent; to be to the point

Derived terms

• 中肯 (zhòngkěn)