蠅營狗苟
Chinese
| fly; musca | army; to deal in; to trade army; to deal in; to trade; to operate; to run; camp; nourishment; to manage |
dog | if indeed; thoughtless | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (蠅營狗苟) | 蠅 | 營 | 狗 | 苟 | |
| simp. (蝇营狗苟) | 蝇 | 营 | 狗 | 苟 | |
| alternative forms | 狗苟蠅營／狗苟蝇营 | ||||
| Literally: “swarm as flies do for good; hang round as dogs do for food”. | |||||
Etymology
Coined by Han Yu in Farewell to Poverty:
- 朝悔其行，暮已復然。蠅營狗苟，驅去復還。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
- From: 811, 韓愈 (Han Yu), 《送窮文》, translated by John Kennedy Rideout
- Zhāo huǐ qí xíng, mù yǐ fù rán. Yíng yíng gǒu gǒu, qū qù fù huán. [Pinyin]
- Though I may repent of my actions in the morning, by the evening I have repeated them. They are like buzzing flies and barking dogs, no sooner driven away than they are back again. (Here the author is to say that he holds his good qualities very firmly, hence different to the later usage.)
朝悔其行，暮已复然。蝇营狗苟，驱去复还。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin: yíngyínggǒugǒu [Phonetic: yíngyínggóugǒu]
- Zhuyin: ㄧㄥˊ ㄧㄥˊ ㄍㄡˇ ㄍㄡˇ
- Tongyong Pinyin: yíngyínggǒugǒu
- Wade–Giles: ying2-ying2-kou3-kou3
- Yale: yíng-yíng-gǒu-gǒu
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yngynggoougoou
- Palladius: инъингоугоу (inʺingougou)
- Sinological IPA (key): /iŋ³⁵ iŋ³⁵ koʊ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ koʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Middle Chinese: ying yweng kuwX kuwX
Idiom
蠅營狗苟
- (figuratively) to shamelessly seek personal gain; profit by ingratiating oneself with the rich