馬馬虎虎

See also: 马马虎虎

Chinese

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Etymology

AABB-type reduplication of 馬虎／马虎 (mǎhu, “careless; not serious”) for emphasis.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Standard)
(Pinyin): mǎmǎhǔhǔ, mǎmǎhūhū

(Zhuyin): ㄇㄚˇ ㄇㄚˇ ㄏㄨˇ ㄏㄨˇ, ㄇㄚˇ ㄇㄚˇ ㄏㄨㄏㄨ

(Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): мама-хўхў (mama-hwhw, I-II-II-I)
Cantonese (Jyutping): maa^5-1 maa^5-1 fu^2-1 fu^2-1
Hakka
(Sixian, PFS): mâ-mâ-fú-fú / mâ-mâ-fù-fù

(Meixian, Guangdong): ma¹ ma¹ fu² fu²
Min Nan (Hokkien, POJ): má-má-hu-hu

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese, standard in Mainland)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: mǎmǎhǔhǔ [Phonetic: mámǎhúhǔ]
  - Zhuyin: ㄇㄚˇ ㄇㄚˇ ㄏㄨˇ ㄏㄨˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: mǎmǎhǔhǔ
  - Wade–Giles: ma³-ma³-hu³-hu³
  - Yale: mǎ-mǎ-hǔ-hǔ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: maamaahuuhuu
  - Palladius: мамахуху (mamaxuxu)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mä²¹⁴⁻³⁵ mä²¹⁴⁻²¹ xu²¹⁴⁻³⁵ xu²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
- (Standard Chinese, standard in Taiwan, common colloquial variant in Mainland)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: mǎmǎhūhū [Phonetic: mámǎhūhū]
  - Zhuyin: ㄇㄚˇ ㄇㄚˇ ㄏㄨㄏㄨ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: mǎmǎhuhu
  - Wade–Giles: ma³-ma³-hu¹-hu¹
  - Yale: mǎ-mǎ-hū-hū
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: maamaahuhu
  - Palladius: мамахуху (mamaxuxu)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /mä²¹⁴⁻³⁵ mä²¹⁴⁻²¹ xu⁵⁵ xu⁵⁵/
- (Dungan)
  - Cyrillic and Wiktionary: мама-хўхў (mama-hwhw, I-II-II-I)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ma²⁴ ma⁵¹ xu⁵¹ xu²⁴/
  (Note: Dungan pronunciation is currently experimental and may be inaccurate.)
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: maa^5-1 maa^5-1 fu^2-1 fu^2-1
  - Yale: mā mā fū fū
  - Cantonese Pinyin: maa^5-1 maa^5-1 fu^2-1 fu^2-1
  - Guangdong Romanization: ma^5-1 ma^5-1 fu^2-1 fu^2-1
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /maː¹³⁻⁵⁵ maː¹³⁻⁵⁵ fuː³⁵⁻⁵⁵ fuː³⁵⁻⁵⁵/
Hakka
- (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: mâ-mâ-fú-fú
  - Hakka Romanization System: ma´ ma´ fu` fu`
  - Hagfa Pinyim: ma¹ ma¹ fu³ fu³
  - Sinological IPA: /ma²⁴⁻¹¹ ma²⁴ fu³¹ fu³¹/
- (Southern Sixian, incl. Meinong)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: mâ-mâ-fù-fù
  - Hakka Romanization System: ma´ ma´ fuˇ fuˇ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: ma¹ ma¹ fu² fu²
  - Sinological IPA: /ma²⁴⁻¹¹ ma²⁴ fu¹¹ fu¹¹/
- (Meixian)
  - Guangdong: ma¹ ma¹ fu² fu²
  - Sinological IPA: /ma⁴⁴ ma⁴⁴⁻³⁵ fu¹¹ fu¹¹/
Min Nan
- (Hokkien)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: má-má-hu-hu
  - Tâi-lô: má-má-hu-hu
  - Phofsit Daibuun: mafmafhu'hw
  - IPA (Xiamen): /mã⁵³⁻⁴⁴ mã⁵³⁻⁴⁴ hu⁴⁴⁻²² hu⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /mã⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ mã⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ hu³³ hu³³/
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /mã⁵³⁻⁴⁴ mã⁵³⁻⁴⁴ hu⁴⁴⁻²² hu⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Taipei): /mã⁵³⁻⁴⁴ mã⁵³⁻⁴⁴ hu⁴⁴⁻³³ hu⁴⁴/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /mã⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ mã⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ hu⁴⁴⁻³³ hu⁴⁴/

Adjective

馬馬虎虎

careless; sloppy
so-so; neither good nor bad
你的中文馬馬虎虎，你應該多學習。 [MSC, trad.]
你的中文马马虎虎，你应该多学习。 [MSC, simp.]
Nǐ de Zhōngwén mǎmǎhūhū, nǐ yīnggāi duō xuéxí. [Pinyin]
Your Chinese is so-so, you should study more.

Synonyms

(careless): (Jin) 二馬一虎／二马一虎; (Min Nan) 雖罔仔／虽罔仔
(so-so):

一般 (yībān)
不大離／不大离 (bùdàlí) (regional)
勉強／勉强
巴巴結結／巴巴结结 (bāba-jiējiē) (regional)
平常 (píngcháng) (euphemistic)
湊合／凑合 (colloquial)
說得過去／说得过去 (shuōdeguòqù)
過得去／过得去 (guòdeqù)
還可以／还可以 (háikěyǐ)
還好／还好 (háihǎo)