曲高和寡

Chinese

		tune; song; bent tune; song; bent; crooked; wrong	high; tall	mix together; peace; harmony mix together; peace; harmony; and; with; union; cap (a poem); respond in singing; soft; warm	few; widowed
simp. and trad. (曲高和寡)		曲	高	和	寡
Literally: “songs of a highbrow type will find very few people joining in the chorus”.

Etymology

From the writing of Song Yu.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): qǔgāohèguǎ

  (Zhuyin): ㄑㄩˇ ㄍㄠ ㄏㄜˋ ㄍㄨㄚˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): kuk¹ gou¹ wo⁶ gwaa²

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: qǔgāohèguǎ
    • Zhuyin: ㄑㄩˇ ㄍㄠ ㄏㄜˋ ㄍㄨㄚˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: cyǔgaohèguǎ
    • Wade–Giles: chʻü³-kao¹-ho⁴-kua³
    • Yale: chyǔ-gāu-hè-gwǎ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: cheugauhehgoa
    • Palladius: цюйгаохэгуа (cjujgaoxɛgua)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕʰy²¹⁴⁻²¹ kɑʊ̯⁵⁵ xɤ⁵¹ ku̯ä²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: kuk¹ gou¹ wo⁶ gwaa²
    • Yale: kūk gōu woh gwá
    • Cantonese Pinyin: kuk⁷ gou¹ wo⁶ gwaa²
    • Guangdong Romanization: kug¹ gou¹ wo⁶ gua²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰʊk̚⁵ kou̯⁵⁵ wɔː²² kʷaː³⁵/

Idiom

曲高和寡

1. to be highbrow and unpopular, as it cannot be easily understood by the common people