牛唔飲水唔撳得牛頭低
简 牛唔饮水唔揿得牛头低 · 繁 牛唔飲水唔撳得牛頭低Meanings
- it's impossible to force one to do something unwillingly (slang)
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.
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: niu2 n2 yin3 shui3 n2 qin4 de5 niu2 tou2 di1. 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
Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section
Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.
proverb
- (Cantonese) you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink; you cannot force someone to do something
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
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