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老調重彈

简老调重弹 · 繁老調重彈

Mandarin · pinyin lǎo diào chóng tán

to play the same old tune (idiom); unoriginal

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Characters in this entry

老: lǎo · old, aged; experienced; Kangxi radical 125
調: Look up this written character
重: zhòng · heavy, weighty; double
彈: Look up this written character
调: diào · transfer, move, change; tune
弹: dàn · pellet, bullet, shot, shell

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4–2–2 · lao3 diao4 chong2 tan2

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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.

老調重彈 · find source passages ↗ · 老调重弹 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

lou5 diu6 cung4 taan4

Cantonese word readings for 老調重彈. 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.

noun

synonym of 舊調重彈 /旧调重弹 (jiùdiàochóngtán, “to put forward again the same old ideas”)

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

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