偷工減料
Chinese
| to steal; to pilfer | work; worker; skill work; worker; skill; profession; trade; craft; labour |
to lower; to decrease; to reduce to lower; to decrease; to reduce; to subtract; to diminish |
material; stuff; grain material; stuff; grain; feed; to expect; to anticipate; to guess | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (偷工減料) | 偷 | 工 | 減 | 料 | |
| simp. (偷工减料) | 偷 | 工 | 减 | 料 | |
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin: tōugōngjiǎnliào
- Zhuyin: ㄊㄡ ㄍㄨㄥ ㄐㄧㄢˇ ㄌㄧㄠˋ
- Tongyong Pinyin: tougongjiǎnliào
- Wade–Giles: tʻou1-kung1-chien3-liao4
- Yale: tōu-gūng-jyǎn-lyàu
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tougongjeanliaw
- Palladius: тоугунцзяньляо (tougunczjanʹljao)
- Sinological IPA (key): /tʰoʊ̯⁵⁵ kʊŋ⁵⁵ t͡ɕi̯ɛn²¹⁴⁻²¹ li̯ɑʊ̯⁵¹/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: tau1 gung1 gaam2 liu6-2
- Yale: tāu gūng gáam líu
- Cantonese Pinyin: tau1 gung1 gaam2 liu6-2
- Guangdong Romanization: teo1 gung1 gam2 liu6-2
- Sinological IPA (key): /tʰɐu̯⁵⁵ kʊŋ⁵⁵ kaːm³⁵ liːu̯²²⁻³⁵/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
Idiom
偷工減料
- to do shoddy work and use inferior materials; to cut corners
- 他見上次高家堰開了口子之後，雖然趕緊的合了龍，這下游一帶的工程，都是偷工減料作的，斷靠不住。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
- From: Wenkang, Ernü Yingxiongzhuan, 1878 CE
- Tā jiàn shàngcì Gāojiāyàn kāi le kǒuzǐ zhīhòu, suīrán gǎnjǐn de hé le lóng, zhè xiàyóu yīdài de gōngchéng, dōu shì tōugōngjiǎnliào zuò de, duàn kàobùzhù. [Pinyin]
- (please add an English translation of this usage example)
他见上次高家堰开了口子之后，虽然赶紧的合了龙，这下游一带的工程，都是偷工减料作的，断靠不住。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]