大意失荊州

See also: 大意失荆州

Chinese

		careless; negligent; general idea careless; negligent; general idea; main points	to lose; to miss; to fail
trad. (大意失荊州)		大意	失	荊州
simp. (大意失荆州)		大意	失	荆州
Literally: “carelessness lost Jingzhou”.

Etymology

From the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Guan Yu had been assigned to defend Jingzhou. In a temporary lapse of judgement, he decided to go on the attack against Cao Cao. In doing so, he unwittingly gave Sun Quan an opportunity to attack Jingzhou. Guan Yu was captured, and later executed.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): dàyì shī Jīngzhōu

  (Zhuyin): ㄉㄚˋ ㄧˋ ㄕ ㄐㄧㄥ ㄓㄡ

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: dàyì shī Jīngzhōu
    • Zhuyin: ㄉㄚˋ ㄧˋ ㄕ ㄐㄧㄥ ㄓㄡ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: dàyì shih Jingjhou
    • Wade–Giles: ta⁴-i⁴ shih¹ Ching¹-chou¹
    • Yale: dà-yì shr̄ Jīng-jōu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: dahyih shy Jingjou
    • Palladius: даи ши Цзинчжоу (dai ši Czinčžou)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tä⁵¹⁻⁵³ i⁵¹ ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ t͡ɕiŋ⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂoʊ̯⁵⁵/

Idiom

大意失荊州

1. to have a temporary lapse in judgement that results in a major defeat; make a bad call and lose the farm

   我們絕對不能因輕敵而大意失荊州。 [MSC, trad.]
   我们绝对不能因轻敌而大意失荆州。 [MSC, simp.]

   Wǒmen juéduì bùnéng yīn qīngdí ér dàyì shī Jīngzhōu. [Pinyin]

   We absolutely must not regard the enemy too lightly, and thereby make a bad call and lose the farm.