春江水暖鸭先知

Traditional: 春江水暖鴨先知

chūn jiāng shuǐ nuǎn yā xiān zhī

Dictionary entry

lit. the duck is the first to know if the spring water is warm (idiom)

What does 春江水暖鸭先知 mean?

春江水暖鸭先知 (chūn jiāng shuǐ nuǎn yā xiān zhī) has the following dictionary meaning.

1lit. the duck is the first to know if the spring water is warm (idiom)

2fig. an expert in the field knows which way the wind blows

Character breakdown

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春chūnold variant of 春[chun1]江Jiāngsurname Jiang · (bound form) Yangtze River 水Shuǐsurname Shui · Shui ethnic group 暖nuǎnold variant of 暖[nuan3]鸭yāduck (CL:隻|只[zhi1]) · (slang) male prostitute 先xiānbeforehand; first; earlier · at first; originally 知zhīto know · to be aware

Reviewed examples

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How to pronounce 春江水暖鸭先知

春江水暖鸭先知

chūn jiāng shuǐ nuǎn yā xiān zhī

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Base dictionary data: CC-CEDICT · CC BY-SA 4.0.