笨鳥先飛

See also: 笨鸟先飞

Chinese

		stupid; foolish; silly stupid; foolish; silly; slow-witted; clumsy	bird	early; prior; former early; prior; former; in advance; first	to fly
trad. (笨鳥先飛)		笨	鳥	先	飛
simp. (笨鸟先飞)		笨	鸟	先	飞
alternative forms		坌鳥先飛／坌鸟先飞
Literally: “clumsy birds have to start flying early”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): bènniǎoxiānfēi

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄣˋ ㄋㄧㄠˇ ㄒㄧㄢ ㄈㄟ

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bènniǎoxiānfēi
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄣˋ ㄋㄧㄠˇ ㄒㄧㄢ ㄈㄟ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: bènniǎosianfei
    • Wade–Giles: pên⁴-niao³-hsien¹-fei¹
    • Yale: bèn-nyǎu-syān-fēi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bennneaushianfei
    • Palladius: бэньняосяньфэй (bɛnʹnjaosjanʹfɛj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pən⁵¹ ni̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ɕi̯ɛn⁵⁵ feɪ̯⁵⁵/

Idiom

笨鳥先飛

1. (figuratively, usually humble) the slow need to start early for fear of falling behind