DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

吃不到葡萄說葡萄酸

简吃不到葡萄说葡萄酸 · 繁吃不到葡萄說葡萄酸

Mandarin · pinyin chī bù dào pú tao shuō pú tao suān

sour grapes (set expr. based on Aesop)
lit. to say grapes are sour when you can't eat them

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Characters in this entry

吃: chī · eat; drink; suffer, endure, bear
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
到: dào · go to, arrive, been to
葡: pú · grapes
萄: táo · grapes
說: shuō · speak, say, talk; scold, upbraid
酸: suān · tart, sour; acid; stiff; spoiled
说: shuō · speak, say, talk; scold, upbraid

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

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Mandarin tones

1–4–4–2–5–1–2–5–1 · chi1 bu4 dao4 pu2 tao5 shuo1 pu2 tao5 suan1

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Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

吃不到葡萄說葡萄酸 · find source passages ↗ · 吃不到葡萄说葡萄酸 · find source passages ↗

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