爛柯
Chinese
rotten; decayed; well-cooked rotten; decayed; well-cooked; mushy; broken; bad; to decay; completely | handle of axe; stem | ||
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trad. (爛柯) | 爛 | 柯 | |
simp. (烂柯) | 烂 | 柯 | |
Literally: “rotten axe handle”. |
Etymology
From the story of the woodcutter Wang Zhi (王質) during the Western Jin dynasty. See Ranka (legend) on Wikipedia for more.
Pronunciation
Noun
爛柯
- (literary, figuratively) fleeting passage of time; unpredictable changes of the world
Derived terms
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Verb
爛柯
- (literary, figuratively) to play chess