三長兩短

Chinese

		three	long; length; forever long; length; forever; always; constantly; chief; head; elder; to grow; to develop	both; two; some both; two; some; a few; tael	lack; short
trad. (三長兩短)		三	長	兩	短
simp. (三长两短)		三	长	两	短

Etymology

Extended from 長短／长短 (chángduǎn), which already has the meaning of “mishap”. 三 and 兩／两 are two arbitrary numbers which can also mean “some” (see 二三 (èrsān) and 三兩／三两 (sānliǎng)).

Folk etymology states that the term is a euphemism referring to a coffin, which consists of 3 pieces of long and 2 pieces of short wood excluding the cover.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): sānchángliǎngduǎn

  (Zhuyin): ㄙㄢ ㄔㄤˊ ㄌㄧㄤˇ ㄉㄨㄢˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): saam¹ coeng⁴ loeng⁵ dyun²
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): saⁿ-tn̂g-nn̄g-té
• Xiang (Changsha, Wiktionary): san¹ zhan² lian³ donn³

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: sānchángliǎngduǎn [Phonetic: sānchángliángduǎn]
    • Zhuyin: ㄙㄢ ㄔㄤˊ ㄌㄧㄤˇ ㄉㄨㄢˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: sanchángliǎngduǎn
    • Wade–Giles: san¹-chʻang²-liang³-tuan³
    • Yale: sān-cháng-lyǎng-dwǎn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sancharngleangdoan
    • Palladius: саньчанляндуань (sanʹčanljanduanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sän⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰɑŋ³⁵ li̯ɑŋ²¹⁴⁻³⁵ tu̯än²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, erhua-ed)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: sānchángliǎngduǎnr [Phonetic: sānchángliángduǎnr]
    • Zhuyin: ㄙㄢ ㄔㄤˊ ㄌㄧㄤˇ ㄉㄨㄢˇㄦ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: sanchángliǎngduǎnr
    • Wade–Giles: san¹-chʻang²-liang³-tuan³-ʼrh
    • Yale: sān-cháng-lyǎng-dwǎnr
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sancharngleangdoal
    • Palladius: саньчанляндуаньр (sanʹčanljanduanʹr)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sän⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰɑŋ³⁵ li̯ɑŋ²¹⁴⁻³⁵ tu̯ɑɻ²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: saam¹ coeng⁴ loeng⁵ dyun²
    • Yale: sāam chèuhng léuhng dyún
    • Cantonese Pinyin: saam¹ tsoeng⁴ loeng⁵ dyn²
    • Guangdong Romanization: sam¹ cêng⁴ lêng⁵ dün²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /saːm⁵⁵ t͡sʰœːŋ²¹ lœːŋ¹³ tyːn³⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: saⁿ-tn̂g-nn̄g-té
    • Tâi-lô: sann-tn̂g-nn̄g-té
    • Phofsit Daibuun: sva'dngnngxdea
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /sã⁴⁴⁻³³ tŋ̍²³⁻³³ nŋ̍³³⁻²¹ te⁴¹/
    • IPA (Taipei): /sã⁴⁴⁻³³ tŋ̍²⁴⁻¹¹ nŋ̍³³⁻¹¹ te⁵³/
• Xiang
  • (Changsha)
    • Wiktionary: san¹ zhan² lian³ donn³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key) (old-style): /san³³ ʈ͡ʂan¹³ li̯æn⁴¹ tõ⁴¹/
    • Sinological IPA ^(key) (new-style): /san³³ t͡san¹³ li̯æn⁴¹ tõ⁴¹/

Idiom

三長兩短

1. unexpected misfortune; unexpected accident; sudden death

References

“Entry #144750”, in 重編國語辭典修訂本 [Revised Mandarin Chinese Dictionary] (in Chinese), National Academy for Educational Research (Taiwan), 2021.