班門弄斧

班門弄斧

See also: 班门弄斧

Chinese

		Lu Ban	opening; door; gate opening; door; gate; doorway; gateway; valve; switch; way to do something; knack; family; house; (religious) sect; school (of thought); class; category; phylum or division (taxonomy)	to do; to manage; to handle to do; to manage; to handle; to play with; to fool with; to mess with; to fix; to toy with; lane; alley	hatchet
trad. (班門弄斧)		班	門	弄	斧
simp. (班门弄斧)		班	门	弄	斧
Literally: “brandish an axe at Ban's gate”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): bānménnòngfǔ

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄢ ㄇㄣˊ ㄋㄨㄥˋ ㄈㄨˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): baan¹ mun⁴ lung⁶ fu²
• Min Nan (POJ): pan-bûn-lōng-hú

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bānménnòngfǔ
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄢ ㄇㄣˊ ㄋㄨㄥˋ ㄈㄨˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: banménnòngfǔ
    • Wade–Giles: pan¹-mên²-nung⁴-fu³
    • Yale: bān-mén-nùng-fǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: banmennonqfuu
    • Palladius: баньмэньнунфу (banʹmɛnʹnunfu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pän⁵⁵ mən³⁵ nʊŋ⁵¹ fu²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: baan¹ mun⁴ lung⁶ fu²
    • Yale: bāan mùhn luhng fú
    • Cantonese Pinyin: baan¹ mun⁴ lung⁶ fu²
    • Guangdong Romanization: ban¹ mun⁴ lung⁶ fu²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /paːn⁵⁵ muːn²¹ lʊŋ²² fuː³⁵/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: pan-bûn-lōng-hú
    • Tâi-lô: pan-bûn-lōng-hú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: panbunloxnghuo
    • IPA (Xiamen): /pan⁴⁴⁻²² bun²⁴⁻²² lɔŋ²²⁻²¹ hu⁵³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /pan³³ bun²⁴⁻²² lɔŋ⁴¹⁻²² hu⁵⁵⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /pan⁴⁴⁻²² bun¹³⁻²² lɔŋ²²⁻²¹ hu⁵³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /pan⁴⁴⁻³³ bun²⁴⁻¹¹ lɔŋ³³⁻¹¹ hu⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /pan⁴⁴⁻³³ bun²³⁻³³ lɔŋ³³⁻²¹ hu⁴¹/

Idiom

班門弄斧

1. to show off one's inferior talent or skill in front of an expert

Usage notes

This idiom is sometimes used in a self-deprecatory way.

Synonyms

• 關公面前耍大刀／关公面前耍大刀 (Guāngōng miànqián shuǎ dàdāo)

Descendants

• → Vietnamese: múa rìu qua mắt thợ (calque)