門可羅雀

Chinese

	opening; door; gate opening; door; gate; doorway; gateway; valve; switch; way to do something; knack; family; house; (religious) sect; school (of thought); class; category; phylum or division (taxonomy)	can; may; able to can; may; able to; certain(ly); to suit; (particle used for emphasis)	to collect; to gather; to catch to collect; to gather; to catch; to shift; gauze	bird; lentigo; sparrow
trad. (門可羅雀)	門	可	羅	雀
simp. (门可罗雀)	门	可	罗	雀
variant forms	門堪羅雀／门堪罗雀
Literally: “can use a net to catch sparrows at the gate”.

Etymology

From a story in the Records of the Grand Historian:

始翟公為廷尉，賓客闐門；及廢，門外可設雀羅。 [Classical Chinese, trad.][▼ expand/hide]

始翟公为廷尉，宾客阗门；及废，门外可设雀罗。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, circa 91 BCE

Shǐ Zhái Gōng wéi tíngwèi, bīnkè tiánmén; jí fèi, ménwài kě shè què luó. [Pinyin]

When Zhai Gong was a court official, guests filled his door, but when he was dismissed, a net could be used to catch sparrows outside his gate.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): ménkěluóquè

(Zhuyin): ㄇㄣˊ ㄎㄜˇ ㄌㄨㄛˊ ㄑㄩㄝˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): mun⁴ ho² lo⁴ zoek³
Min Nan (POJ): mn̂g-khó-lô-chhiok

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Pinyin: ménkěluóquè
  - Zhuyin: ㄇㄣˊ ㄎㄜˇ ㄌㄨㄛˊ ㄑㄩㄝˋ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: menkeeluochiueh
  - IPA ^(key): /mən³⁵ kʰɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ lu̯ɔ³⁵ t͡ɕʰɥ̯œ⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: mun⁴ ho² lo⁴ zoek³
  - Yale: mùhn hó lòh jeuk
  - Cantonese Pinyin: mun⁴ ho² lo⁴ dzoek⁸
  - Guangdong Romanization: mun⁴ ho² lo⁴ zêg³
  - IPA ^(key): /muːn²¹ hɔː³⁵ lɔː²¹ t͡ʃœ̽ːk̚³/
Min Nan
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: mn̂g-khó-lô-chhiok
  - Tâi-lô: mn̂g-khó-lô-tshiok
  - Phofsit Daibuun: mngqoyloichiog
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /mŋ̍²³⁻³³ kʰɤ⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ lɤ²³⁻³³ t͡ɕʰiɔk̚³²/
  - IPA (Taipei): /mŋ̍²⁴⁻¹¹ kʰo⁵³⁻⁴⁴ lo²⁴⁻¹¹ t͡ɕʰiɔk̚³²/

Idiom

門可羅雀

(figuratively) to have few visitors

Antonyms

門庭若市／门庭若市 (méntíngruòshì)

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