望梅止渴

望梅止渴

Chinese

		hope; expect; to visit hope; expect; to visit; to gaze (into the distance); look towards; towards	plum flower	to quench one's thirst
trad. (望梅止渴)		望	梅	止渴
simp. #(望梅止渴)		望	梅	止渴
Literally: “to quench one's thirst by thinking of plums”.

Etymology

From the tale of the warlord Cao Cao deceiving his severely dehydrated troops with the promise of a forest of plums not far ahead.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): wàngméizhǐkě

  (Zhuyin): ㄨㄤˋ ㄇㄟˊ ㄓˇ ㄎㄜˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): mong⁶ mui⁴ zi² hot³
• Min Nan (Teochew, Peng'im): mo⁷ bhuê⁵ zi² guah⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wàngméizhǐkě [Phonetic: wàngméizhíkě]
    • Zhuyin: ㄨㄤˋ ㄇㄟˊ ㄓˇ ㄎㄜˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wàngméijhǐhkě
    • Wade–Giles: wang⁴-mei²-chih³-kʻo³
    • Yale: wàng-méi-jř-kě
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wanqmeijyykee
    • Palladius: ванмэйчжикэ (vanmɛjčžikɛ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /wɑŋ⁵¹ meɪ̯³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩²¹⁴⁻³⁵ kʰɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: mong⁶ mui⁴ zi² hot³
    • Yale: mohng mùih jí hot
    • Cantonese Pinyin: mong⁶ mui⁴ dzi² hot⁸
    • Guangdong Romanization: mong⁶ mui⁴ ji² hod³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mɔːŋ²² muːi̯²¹ t͡siː³⁵ hɔːt̚³/
• Min Nan
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: mo⁷ bhuê⁵ zi² guah⁴
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: mō buê tsí kuah
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mo¹¹ bue⁵⁵⁻¹¹ t͡si⁵²⁻³⁵ kuaʔ²/

Idiom

望梅止渴

1. to console oneself with illusions

See also

• 畫餅充飢／画饼充饥 (huàbǐngchōngjī)