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差生文具多

Mandarin · pinyin chà shēng wén jù duō

(neologism, attested by 2021) underachieving students tend to buy lots of stationery; (fig.) all the gear and no idea

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Characters in this entry

差: chà · chā · to differ; different, wrong; nearly, almost; an officer
生: shēng · life, living, lifetime; birth
文: wén · literature, culture, writing
具: jù · tool, implement; draw up, write
多: duō · much, many; more than, over

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–1–2–4–1 · cha4 sheng1 wen2 ju4 duo1

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

proverb

(literally) A poor performer overvalues their stationery
(figuratively) One is unlikely to do good work if overly concerned with tools

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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