理屈詞窮

Chinese

		to be in the wrong	to be unable to give a response as one is in the wrong or has given flawed arguments
trad. (理屈詞窮)		理屈	詞窮
simp. (理屈词穷)		理屈	词穷
Literally: “reasons are faulty and words have run out”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): lǐqūcíqióng

  (Zhuyin): ㄌㄧˇ ㄑㄩ ㄘˊ ㄑㄩㄥˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): lei⁵ wat¹ ci⁴ kung⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: lǐqūcíqióng
    • Zhuyin: ㄌㄧˇ ㄑㄩ ㄘˊ ㄑㄩㄥˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: lǐcyucíhcyóng
    • Wade–Giles: li³-chʻü¹-tzʻŭ²-chʻiung²
    • Yale: lǐ-chyū-tsź-chyúng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: liichiutsyrchyong
    • Palladius: лицюйцыцюн (licjujcycjun)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /li²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡ɕʰy⁵⁵ t͡sʰz̩³⁵ t͡ɕʰi̯ʊŋ³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: lei⁵ wat¹ ci⁴ kung⁴
    • Yale: léih wāt chìh kùhng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: lei⁵ wat⁷ tsi⁴ kung⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: léi⁵ wed¹ qi⁴ kung⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lei̯¹³ wɐt̚⁵ t͡sʰiː²¹ kʰʊŋ²¹/

Idiom

理屈詞窮

1. to be unable to put forth any convincing arguments to justify one's opinion; to not have a leg to stand on

Synonyms

• 詞窮理屈／词穷理屈 (cíqiónglǐqū)