待價而沽

See also: 待价而沽

Chinese

		wait; treat; deal with wait; treat; deal with; need; about; intending to do something; stay; delay	price; value; valence (on an atom) price; value; valence (on an atom); great; good; middleman; servant	and; as well as; but (not) and; as well as; but (not); yet (not); (shows causal relation); (shows change of state); (shows contrast)	buy; sell
trad. (待價而沽)		待	價	而	沽
simp. (待价而沽)		待	价	而	沽

Etymology

From the Analects, Book 9 (《論語·子罕》):

子貢曰：「有美玉於斯，韞匵而藏諸？求善賈而沽諸？」子曰：「沽之哉！沽之哉！我待賈者也。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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子贡曰：「有美玉于斯，韫𰅥而藏诸？求善贾而沽诸？」子曰：「沽之哉！沽之哉！我待贾者也。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Zǐgòng yuē: “Yǒu měi yù yú sī, yùn dú ér cáng zhū? Qiú shàn jià ér gū zhū?” Zǐyuē: “Gū zhī zāi! Gū zhī zāi! Wǒ dài jià zhě yě.” [Pinyin]

Zigong said, "There is a beautiful gem here. Should I lay it up in a case and keep it? or should I seek for a good price and sell it?" The Master said, "Sell it! Sell it! But I would wait for one to offer the price."

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): dàijià'érgū

  (Zhuyin): ㄉㄞˋ ㄐㄧㄚˋ ㄦˊ ㄍㄨ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): doi⁶ gaa³ ji⁴ gu¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: dàijià'érgū
    • Zhuyin: ㄉㄞˋ ㄐㄧㄚˋ ㄦˊ ㄍㄨ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: dàijià-érgu
    • Wade–Giles: tai⁴-chia⁴-êrh²-ku¹
    • Yale: dài-jyà-ér-gū
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: dayjiaherlgu
    • Palladius: дайцзяэргу (dajczjaergu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /taɪ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ t͡ɕi̯ä⁵¹ ˀɤɻ³⁵ ku⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: doi⁶ gaa³ ji⁴ gu¹
    • Yale: doih ga yìh gū
    • Cantonese Pinyin: doi⁶ gaa³ ji⁴ gu¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: doi⁶ ga³ yi⁴ gu¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tɔːi̯²² kaː³³ jiː²¹ kuː⁵⁵/

Idiom

待價而沽

1. to wait for the highest bid before selling an item; to wait for the best job offer before providing one's service