咬文嚼字

咬文嚼字

Chinese

		bite; nip	language; culture; writing language; culture; writing; formal; literary; gentle	to chew	letter; symbol; character letter; symbol; character; word
simp. and trad. (咬文嚼字)		咬	文	嚼	字

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yǎowénjiáozì

  (Zhuyin): ㄧㄠˇ ㄨㄣˊ ㄐㄧㄠˊ ㄗˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ngaau⁵ man⁴ zoek³ zi⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: yǎowénjiáozì
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄠˇ ㄨㄣˊ ㄐㄧㄠˊ ㄗˋ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yeauwenjyautzyh
    • IPA ^(key): /i̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ u̯ən³⁵ t͡ɕi̯ɑʊ̯³⁵ t͡sz̩⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: ngaau⁵ man⁴ zoek³ zi⁶
    • Yale: ngáauh màhn jeuk jih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ngaau⁵ man⁴ dzoek⁸ dzi⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: ngao⁵ men⁴ zêg³ ji⁶
    • IPA ^(key): /ŋaːu̯¹³ mɐn²¹ t͡ɕœːk̚³ t͡siː²²/

Idiom

咬文嚼字

1. to bite on phrases and chew on characters; to pay excessive attention to wording and choice of characters; to nitpick like a grammar Nazi; to talk pedantically