寅吃卯糧

Chinese

		3rd earthly branch; 3–5 a.m.	eat; eradicate; destroy eat; eradicate; destroy; receive; stammer	4th earthly branch; 5–7 a.m.	grain; provisions
trad. (寅吃卯糧)		寅	吃	卯	糧
simp. (寅吃卯粮)		寅	吃	卯	粮
Literally: “to have eaten the yearly ration of the Year of the Rabbit in the Year of the Tiger (one year ahead)”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yínchīmǎoliáng

  (Zhuyin): ㄧㄣˊ ㄔ ㄇㄠˇ ㄌㄧㄤˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jan⁴ hek³ maau⁵ loeng⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yínchīmǎoliáng
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄣˊ ㄔ ㄇㄠˇ ㄌㄧㄤˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yínchihmǎoliáng
    • Wade–Giles: yin²-chʻih¹-mao³-liang²
    • Yale: yín-chr̄-mǎu-lyáng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ynchymaoliang
    • Palladius: иньчимаолян (inʹčimaoljan)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /in³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰʐ̩⁵⁵ mɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ li̯ɑŋ³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jan⁴ hek³ maau⁵ loeng⁴
    • Yale: yàhn hek máauh lèuhng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jan⁴ hek⁸ maau⁵ loeng⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: yen⁴ hég³ mao⁵ lêng⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɐn²¹ hɛːk̚³ maːu̯¹³ lœːŋ²¹/

Idiom

寅吃卯糧

1. (figurative) to prematurely overconsume; unable to make both ends meet

Synonyms

• 寅支卯糧／寅支卯粮
• (Hakka) 寅食卯糧／寅食卯粮