three | bones of leg; wrestle | cat | laugh; smile | one; single; a one; single; a; (before verbs) as soon as, once; (before a noun) entire (family, etc.) |
eye; item; section eye; item; section; list; catalogue; table of contents; (taxonomy) order; goal; name; title |
dog | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
trad. (三跤貓笑一目狗) | 三 | 跤 | 貓 | 笑 | 一 | 目 | 狗 | |
simp. (三跤猫笑一目狗) | 三 | 跤 | 猫 | 笑 | 一 | 目 | 狗 | |
alternative forms | 三骹貓笑一目狗/三骹猫笑一目狗 | |||||||
Literally: “three-legged cat laughs at one-eyed dog”. |
三跤貓笑一目狗
Variety | Location | Words |
---|---|---|
Formal (Written Standard Chinese) | 五十步笑百步, 五十步笑一百步 | |
Northeastern Mandarin | Taiwan | 五十步笑百步, 五十步笑一百步 |
Cantonese | Hong Kong | 五十步笑百步, 五十步笑一百步 |
Southern Min | Xiamen | 七仔笑八仔, 龜笑鱉無毛, 龜笑鱉無尾,鱉笑龜粗皮, 龜笑鱉無尾, 龜笑鱉短尾,蟳笑蝦無血, 三跤貓笑一目狗, 三跤雞笑一目狗, 八兩笑半斤 |
Quanzhou | 七仔笑八仔, 龜笑鱉無毛, 龜笑鱉無尾,鱉笑龜粗皮, 龜笑鱉短尾,蟳笑蝦無血, 三跤貓笑一目狗, 八兩笑半斤 | |
Zhangzhou | 七仔笑八仔, 龜笑鱉無毛, 龜笑鱉無尾,鱉笑龜粗皮, 龜笑鱉短尾,蟳笑蝦無血, 三跤貓笑一目狗, 八兩笑半斤 | |
Tainan | 七仔笑八仔, 龜笑鱉無尾 |