不翼而飛

Chinese

		not; no	wing	and; as well as; but (not) and; as well as; but (not); yet (not); (shows causal relation); (shows change of state); (shows contrast)	to fly
trad. (不翼而飛)		不	翼	而	飛
simp. (不翼而飞)		不	翼	而	飞
Literally: “to be wingless and yet flying or airborne”.

Etymology

Chapter 26 of Guanzi:

無翼而飛者，聲也；無根而固者，情也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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无翼而飞者，声也；无根而固者，情也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Guanzi, 5^th century BCE to 220 CE

Wú yì ér fēi zhě, shēng yě; wú gēn ér gù zhě, qíng yě. [Pinyin]

Sound flies without wings; feelings are firm without roots.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): bùyì'érfēi

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄨˋ ㄧˋ ㄦˊ ㄈㄟ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): bat¹ jik⁶ ji⁴ fei¹
• Southern Min (Teochew, Peng'im): bug⁴ êg⁸ re⁵ buê¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bùyì'érfēi [Phonetic: búyì'érfēi]
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˋ ㄧˋ ㄦˊ ㄈㄟ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: bùyì-érfei
    • Wade–Giles: pu⁴-i⁴-êrh²-fei¹
    • Yale: bù-yì-ér-fēi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: buyiherlfei
    • Palladius: буиэрфэй (buierfɛj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ i⁵¹ ˀɤɻ³⁵ feɪ̯⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: bat¹ jik⁶ ji⁴ fei¹
    • Yale: bāt yihk yìh fēi
    • Cantonese Pinyin: bat⁷ jik⁹ ji⁴ fei¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: bed¹ yig⁶ yi⁴ féi¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɐt̚⁵ jɪk̚² jiː²¹ fei̯⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: bug⁴ êg⁸ re⁵ buê¹
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: puk e̍k jṳ̂ pue
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /puk̚²⁻⁴ ek̚⁴⁻² d͡zɯ⁵⁵⁻¹¹ pue³³/

Idiom

不翼而飛

1. (of news) to spread quickly; to spread like wildfire; to spread fast as if on wings
2. (of an object) to disappear suddenly; to disappear without a trace; to vanish into thin air