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油鹽不進

简油盐不进 · 繁油鹽不進

Mandarin · pinyin yóu yán bù jìn

(idiom) impervious to persuasion; unreceptive; impossible to get through to

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Characters in this entry

油: yóu · oil, fat, grease, lard; paints
鹽: Look up this written character
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
進: jìn · advance, make progress, enter
盐: yán · salt
进: jìn · advance, make progress, enter

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2–4–4 · you2 yan2 bu4 jin4

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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.

油鹽不進 · find source passages ↗ · 油盐不进 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) stubborn

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

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