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雞蛋裡挑骨頭

简鸡蛋里挑骨头 · 繁雞蛋裡挑骨頭

Mandarin · pinyin jī dàn li tiāo gǔ tou

to look for bones in an egg
to find fault
to nitpick (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

雞: jī · chickens; domestic fowl
蛋: dàn · eggs; term of abuse
裡: Look up this written character
挑: tiāo · a load carried on the shoulders; to carry
骨: gǔ · bone; skeleton; frame, framework; Kangxi radical 188
頭: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
鸡: jī · chicken
里: lǐ · unit of distance; village; lane; Kangxi radical 166
头: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss

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

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Mandarin tones

1–4–5–1–3–5 · ji1 dan4 li5 tiao1 gu3 tou5

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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.

雞蛋裡挑骨頭 · find source passages ↗ · 鸡蛋里挑骨头 · find source passages ↗

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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) to nitpick; to deliberately find fault

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

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