下臺階

See also: 下台阶 and 下台階

Chinese

		under; next; lower under; next; lower; below; underneath; down(wards); to go down; latter	step; level
trad. (下臺階/下台階)		下	臺階/台階
simp. (下台阶)		下	台阶
Literally: “to descend the stage”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xià táijiē

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄚˋ ㄊㄞˊ ㄐㄧㄝ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): haa⁶ toi⁴ gaai¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xià táijiē
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄚˋ ㄊㄞˊ ㄐㄧㄝ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: sià táijie
    • Wade–Giles: hsia⁴ tʻai²-chieh¹
    • Yale: syà tái-jyē
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shiah tairjie
    • Palladius: ся тайцзе (sja tajcze)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ä⁵¹ tʰaɪ̯³⁵ t͡ɕi̯ɛ⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: haa⁶ toi⁴ gaai¹
    • Yale: hah tòih gāai
    • Cantonese Pinyin: haa⁶ toi⁴ gaai¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: ha⁶ toi⁴ gai¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /haː²² tʰɔːi̯²¹ kaːi̯⁵⁵/

Verb

下⫽臺階 (verb-object)

1. (literally) to go off stage
2. (figurative) to get out of a predicament or an embarrassing situation

Synonyms

• (to go off stage): 下臺／下台 (xiàtái), (Cantonese, Hokkien) 落臺／落台
• (to get out of a predicament): 下臺／下台 (xiàtái), (Cantonese, Hokkien) 落臺／落台

Noun

下臺階

1. chance to not lose face

   給他一個下臺階吧。 [MSC, trad.]
   给他一个下台阶吧。 [MSC, simp.]

   Gěi tā yīge xiàtáijiē ba. [Pinyin]

   Give him an excuse to avoid him from embarrassing himself.

Synonyms

• (Cantonese) 落臺階／落台阶