馬虎

馬虎

See also: 马虎

Chinese

		horse; surname	tiger
trad. (馬虎)		馬	虎
simp. (马虎)		马	虎
alternative forms		馬糊／马糊

Etymology

Etymology unclear. Several hypotheses exist. Compare Chinese 模糊 (móhu, “unclear; fuzzy”), 麻糊 (máhú, “careless”); Manchu ᠮᠠᡥᡡ (mahū, “wry face”), ᠯᠠᡥᡡ (lahū, “without hunting skills”). Attested as early as the Yuan dynasty. A literal etymology is unlikely; individual characters are possibly chosen based on their phonetic values rather than meanings, since many variant forms exist.[1][2][3][4]

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): mǎhu, mǎhū

  (Zhuyin): ㄇㄚˇ ˙ㄏㄨ, ㄇㄚˇ ㄏㄨ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): maa^5-1 fu^2-1
• Min Nan

  (Hokkien, POJ): má-hó͘ / má-hu

  (Teochew, Peng'im): ma² hu¹

• Wu (Wiktionary): 'ma hu (T1)

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, standard in Mainland and Taiwan)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: mǎhu
    • Zhuyin: ㄇㄚˇ ˙ㄏㄨ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: mǎhů
    • Wade–Giles: ma³-hu⁵
    • Yale: mǎ-hu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: maa.hu
    • Palladius: маху (maxu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mä²¹⁴ xu⁴/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, variant in Taiwan)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: mǎhū
    • Zhuyin: ㄇㄚˇ ㄏㄨ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: mǎhu
    • Wade–Giles: ma³-hu¹
    • Yale: mǎ-hū
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: maahu
    • Palladius: маху (maxu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mä²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ xu⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: maa^5-1 fu^2-1
    • Yale: mā fū
    • Cantonese Pinyin: maa^5-1 fu^2-1
    • Guangdong Romanization: ma^5-1 fu^2-1
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /maː¹³⁻⁵⁵ fuː³⁵⁻⁵⁵/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: má-hó͘
    • Tâi-lô: má-hóo
    • Phofsit Daibuun: mafhor
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /mã⁵³⁻⁴⁴ hɔ⁵³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /mã⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ hɔ⁵⁵⁴/
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: má-hu
    • Tâi-lô: má-hu
    • Phofsit Daibuun: mafhw
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /mã⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ hu⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Taipei): /mã⁵³⁻⁴⁴ hu⁴⁴/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: ma² hu¹
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: má hu
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ma⁵²⁻³⁵ hu³³/
• Wu
  • (Shanghainese)
    • Wiktionary: 'ma hu (T1)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʔma̱⁵⁵ hv̩ʷ²¹/

Adjective

馬虎

1. careless; sloppy; negligent; skimpy

Synonyms

edit

Synonyms of 馬虎

俹簁 (Cantonese) 大意 (dàyì) 容易 (róngyì) (literary) 投五投六 (Shanghainese) 毛糙 (máocāo) 泡毛 (Sichuan)

潦草 (liáocǎo) 疏忽 (shūhu) 粗心 (cūxīn) 邋糊 (Xiang) 簡單／简单 (jiǎndān)

Antonyms

• 當心／当心 (dāngxīn)
• 小心 (xiǎoxīn)
• 細心／细心 (xìxīn)
• 仔細／仔细 (zǐxì)

Derived terms

打馬虎／打马虎 打馬虎眼／打马虎眼 (dǎ mǎhuyǎn) 馬虎子／马虎子 馬虎從事／马虎从事

馬虎湯／马虎汤 馬虎眼／马虎眼 馬馬虎虎／马马虎虎 (mǎmǎhǔhǔ)

References

1. 爱新觉罗·瀛生，《满语和汉语中的互相影响》。
2. 王惠樵，《河东方言语词辑考》：河东俗谓人凡事不经意，大大列列为“喇忽”。
3. 《清稗类钞‧方言类‧上海方言》：“马马虎虎，颟顸也，实即模模糊糊之转音耳。混天糊涂，糊涂之至也。”
4. 周作人，1935，《苦竹杂记‧模糊》：“模糊今俗语云麻糊，或写作马虎。我想这不必一定用动物名，还是写麻糊字，而南北可通用。”