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打小算盤

简打小算盘 · 繁打小算盤

Mandarin · pinyin dǎ xiǎo suàn pán

lit. to count on a narrow abacus (idiom); petty and scheming selfishly
concerned with petty interests
selfish and uncaring of the interests of others
bean counter

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Characters in this entry

打: dǎ · strike, hit, beat; fight; attack
小: xiǎo · small, tiny, insignificant
算: suàn · count, calculate, figure; plan
盤: Look up this written character
盘: pán · tray, plate, dish; examine

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

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Mandarin tones

3–3–4–2 · da3 xiao3 suan4 pan2

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

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.

打小算盤 · find source passages ↗ · 打小算盘 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

daa2 siu2 syun3 pun4

Cantonese word readings for 打小算盤. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) to be petty and scheming; to show petty shrewdness

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

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