阿堵物

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Chinese

this; money thing; object; matter
simp. and trad.
(阿堵物)
阿堵

Etymology

In reference to an anecdote attributed to Wang Yan (aka Yifu, 256–311) in the New Account of the Tales of the World (5th century), who was said to have a morbid taboo against money and the mere mentioning of it:

未嘗不得:「阿堵物。」
未尝不得:「阿堵物。」
From: Liu Yiqing (editor), A New Account of the Tales of the World, 5th century CE
Wáng Yífǔ yǎ shàng xuán yuǎn, cháng jí qí fù tānzhuó, kǒu wèicháng yán “qián” zì. Fù yù shìzhī, lìng bì yǐ qián rǎo chuáng, bùdé xíng. Yífǔ chénqǐ, jiàn qián hé xíng, hū bì yuē: “Jǔ què ādǔwù.”
Wang Yifu, a highly refined and profoundly spiritual person, disapproved of his wife's "worldly greed", and he refrained from uttering any word that referred to money. His wife, determined to try him, made a maidservant encircle his couch with coins and thus trapped him inside. When Yifu awoke the next morning and saw the coins blocking his way, he called aloud to the maid and said: "Take away these stuff."

Pronunciation



Rime
Character
Reading # 1/1 1/2 1/1
Initial () (34) (5) (4)
Final () (94) (23) (60)
Tone (調) Level (Ø) Rising (X) Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open Open Closed
Division () I I III
Fanqie
Baxter 'a tuX mjut
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/ʔɑ/ /tuoX/ /mɨut̚/
Pan
Wuyun
/ʔɑ/ /tuoX/ /miut̚/
Shao
Rongfen
/ʔɑ/ /toX/ /miuət̚/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/ʔa/ /tɔX/ /mut̚/
Li
Rong
/ʔɑ/ /toX/ /miuət̚/
Wang
Li
/ /tuX/ /mĭuət̚/
Bernhard
Karlgren
/ʔɑ/ /tuoX/ /mi̯uət̚/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
ē
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
o1 dou2 mat6

Noun

阿堵物

  1. (literary, euphemistic or sarcastic) money