爛泥扶唔上壁
简 烂泥扶唔上壁 · 繁 爛泥扶唔上壁Meanings
- (derogatory slang) (with figurative meaning) when someone is lacking in ability
- motivation, he
- she will not be successful no matter how others help them; you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear
About these definitions
Source definition segments, in their original order. Characters a definition cites are shown without their Mandarin pinyin; classifier lists that CC-Canto copied from CC-CEDICT are marked Mandarin. The community dictionary is not independently verified by zimai.
Reading & tones
Schematic citation-tone diagrams from the source numbers. These are not recordings or predictions of connected speech.
Tone and syllable differences from Unihan
- 上 is read soeng5 here; Unihan’s citation reading is soeng6. Same syllable, different tone across these source readings. CC-Canto also lists 上 soeng5 as its own entry.
- 壁 has the reading bek3 here; Unihan’s citation reading is bik1. Different syllable across these source readings. CC-Canto also lists 壁 bek3 as its own entry.
Computed by zimai: each syllable of the CC-Canto word reading is compared with Unihan 17.0.0 kCantonese for its character. The comparison does not say why a reading differs (a changed tone, 變音, a reading tied to one meaning, or a source variant).
Same syllable, six tones
Characters whose customary Unihan reading (kCantonese) is this syllable in each tone, chosen as in the tone atlas (2013 standard level, then the number of CC-CEDICT words they form), with CC-Canto 2017's meaning for that reading; a dash means no catalogue character has that reading. Checked syllables (-p, -t, -k) normally carry tones 1, 3 and 6. Character readings, not word readings; no frequency implied.
Written characters
Both source spellings are represented. Written membership is not an etymological or semantic claim.
Mandarin comparison · separate source entries
CC-Canto includes this pinyin reference: lan4 ni2 fu2 m2 shang4 bi4. It does not establish a Mandarin word with the same meaning.
Look up this spelling in the Mandarin dictionary ↗Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
laan6 nai4 fu4 m4 soeng5 bek3
Cantonese word readings for 爛泥扶唔上壁. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.
CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack
Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section
Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.
phrase
- (Cantonese) to be so incompetent that others' help is of no use; to be useless and incapable and cannot be nurtured; to be hopelessly inept
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack