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雞同鴨講

简鸡同鸭讲 · 繁雞同鴨講

Mandarin · pinyin jī tóng yā jiǎng

lit. chicken speaking with duck
fig. talking without communicating
people not understanding each other

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Characters in this entry

雞: jī · chickens; domestic fowl
同: tóng · same, similar; together with
鴨: yā · duck; Anas species (various)
講: Look up this written character
鸡: jī · chicken
鸭: yā · duck; Anas species (various)
讲: jiǎng · explain; discuss; talk

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–1–3 · ji1 tong2 ya1 jiang3

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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.

雞同鴨講 · find source passages ↗ · 鸡同鸭讲 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gai1 tung4 aap3 gong2

Cantonese word readings for 雞同鴨講. 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

(idiomatic) mutually unintelligible; unable to understand one another; to talk past each other; getting one's wires crossed

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

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