三長兩短

Chinese

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Etymology

Extended from 長短／长短 (chángduǎn), which already has the meaning of “mishap”. 三 and 兩／两 are two arbitrary numbers which can also mean “some” (see 二三 (èrsān) and 三兩／三两 (sānliǎng)).

Folk etymology states that the term is a euphemism referring to a coffin, which consists of 3 pieces of long and 2 pieces of short wood excluding the cover.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): sānchángliǎngduǎn

(Zhuyin): ㄙㄢㄔㄤˊ ㄌㄧㄤˇ ㄉㄨㄢˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): saam¹ coeng⁴ loeng⁵ dyun²
Min Nan (Hokkien, POJ): saⁿ-tn̂g-nn̄g-té
Xiang (Changsha, Wiktionary): san¹ zhan² lian³ donn³

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: sānchángliǎngduǎn [Phonetic: sānchángliángduǎn]
  - Zhuyin: ㄙㄢㄔㄤˊ ㄌㄧㄤˇ ㄉㄨㄢˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: sanchángliǎngduǎn
  - Wade–Giles: san¹-chʻang²-liang³-tuan³
  - Yale: sān-cháng-lyǎng-dwǎn
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sancharngleangdoan
  - Palladius: саньчанляндуань (sanʹčanljanduanʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sän⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰɑŋ³⁵⁻⁵⁵ li̯ɑŋ²¹⁴⁻³⁵ tu̯än²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
- (Standard Chinese, erhua-ed)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: sānchángliǎngduǎnr [Phonetic: sānchángliángduǎnr]
  - Zhuyin: ㄙㄢㄔㄤˊ ㄌㄧㄤˇ ㄉㄨㄢˇㄦ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: sanchángliǎngduǎnr
  - Wade–Giles: san¹-chʻang²-liang³-tuan³-ʼrh
  - Yale: sān-cháng-lyǎng-dwǎnr
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sancharngleangdoal
  - Palladius: саньчанляндуаньр (sanʹčanljanduanʹr)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sän⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰɑŋ³⁵⁻⁵⁵ li̯ɑŋ²¹⁴⁻³⁵ tu̯ɑɻ²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: saam¹ coeng⁴ loeng⁵ dyun²
  - Yale: sāam chèuhng léuhng dyún
  - Cantonese Pinyin: saam¹ tsoeng⁴ loeng⁵ dyn²
  - Guangdong Romanization: sam¹ cêng⁴ lêng⁵ dün²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /saːm⁵⁵ t͡ʃʰœːŋ²¹ lœːŋ¹³ tyːn³⁵/
Min Nan
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: saⁿ-tn̂g-nn̄g-té
  - Tâi-lô: sann-tn̂g-nn̄g-té
  - Phofsit Daibuun: sva'dngnngxdea
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /sã⁴⁴⁻³³ tŋ̍²³⁻³³ nŋ̍³³⁻²¹ te⁴¹/
  - IPA (Taipei): /sã⁴⁴⁻³³ tŋ̍²⁴⁻¹¹ nŋ̍³³⁻¹¹ te⁵³/
Xiang
- (Changsha)
  - Wiktionary: san¹ zhan² lian³ donn³
  - Sinological IPA ^(key) (old-style): /san³³ ʈ͡ʂan¹³ lɪ̯æn⁴¹ tõ⁴¹/
  - Sinological IPA ^(key) (new-style): /san³³ t͡san¹³ lɪ̯æn⁴¹ tõ⁴¹/

Idiom

三長兩短

unexpected misfortune; unexpected accident; sudden death

References

“Entry #144750”, in 重編國語辭典修訂本 [Revised Mandarin Chinese Dictionary] (in Chinese), National Academy for Educational Research (Taiwan), 2021.

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