臨淵羨魚

Chinese

		to face; to overlook; to arrive to face; to overlook; to arrive; to be (just) about to; just before	abyss	to envy	fish
trad. (臨淵羨魚)		臨	淵	羨	魚
simp. (临渊羡鱼)		临	渊	羡	鱼
Literally: “to stand on the edge of a pool and idly long for fish”.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): línyuānxiànyú

(Zhuyin): ㄌㄧㄣˊ ㄩㄢㄒㄧㄢˋ ㄩˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): lam⁴ jyun¹ sin⁶ jyu⁴

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: línyuānxiànyú
  - Zhuyin: ㄌㄧㄣˊ ㄩㄢㄒㄧㄢˋ ㄩˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: línyuansiànyú
  - Wade–Giles: lin²-yüan¹-hsien⁴-yü²
  - Yale: lín-ywān-syàn-yú
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: liniuanshiannyu
  - Palladius: линьюаньсяньюй (linʹjuanʹsjanʹjuj)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /lin³⁵ ɥɛn⁵⁵ ɕi̯ɛn⁵¹ y³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: lam⁴ jyun¹ sin⁶ jyu⁴
  - Yale: làhm yūn sihn yùh
  - Cantonese Pinyin: lam⁴ jyn¹ sin⁶ jy⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: lem⁴ yun¹ xin⁶ yu⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /lɐm²¹ jyːn⁵⁵ siːn²² jyː²¹/

Idiom

臨淵羨魚

to wish for something good but take no action to obtain it; irresoluteness

Derived terms

臨淵羨魚，不如退而結網／临渊羡鱼，不如退而结网 (lín yuān xiàn yú, bù rú tuì ér jié wǎng)

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