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擇日不如撞日

简择日不如撞日 · 繁擇日不如撞日

Mandarin · pinyin zé rì bù rú zhuàng rì

lit. carefully setting an auspicious date does not beat seizing an opportunity (idiom)
fig. seize the occasion

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Characters in this entry

擇: Look up this written character
日: rì · sun; day; daytime
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
如: rú · if, supposing; as if; like, as
撞: zhuàng · knock against, bump into, collide
择: zé · select, choose, pick out

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

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Mandarin tones

2–4–4–2–4–4 · ze2 ri4 bu4 ru2 zhuang4 ri4

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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.

擇日不如撞日 · find source passages ↗ · 择日不如撞日 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zaak6 jat2 bat1 jyu4 zong6 jat2

Cantonese word readings for 擇日不如撞日. 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

it's better to do it now; there's no time like the present

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

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