如履薄冰

如履薄冰

Chinese

		as (if); such as	shoe; to tread on	thin; slight; meagre thin; slight; meagre; small; ungenerous; unkind; mean; frivolous; despise; belittle; to approach; to go near; peppermint	ice
trad. (如履薄冰)		如	履	薄	冰
simp. #(如履薄冰)		如	履	薄	冰
Literally: “like treading on thin ice”.

Etymology

See 戰戰兢兢／战战兢兢 (zhànzhànjīngjīng).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): rúlǚbóbīng

  (Zhuyin): ㄖㄨˊ ㄌㄩˇ ㄅㄛˊ ㄅㄧㄥ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jyu⁴ lei⁵ bok⁶ bing¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: rúlǚbóbīng
    • Zhuyin: ㄖㄨˊ ㄌㄩˇ ㄅㄛˊ ㄅㄧㄥ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ruleuborbing
    • Tongyong Pinyin: rúlyǔbóbing
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʐu³⁵ ly²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ pwɔ³⁵ piŋ⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: jyu⁴ lei⁵ bok⁶ bing¹
    • Yale: yùh léih bohk bīng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jy⁴ lei⁵ bok⁹ bing¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: yu⁴ léi⁵ bog⁶ bing¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jyː²¹ lei̯¹³ pɔːk̚² pɪŋ⁵⁵/

Idiom

如履薄冰

1. (figuratively) to be very careful; to act with extreme caution