七上八下

Chinese

		seven	up; on; on top up; on; on top; upon; first; previous or last; upper; higher; above; previous; to climb; to go into; to go up	eight	under; next; lower under; next; lower; below; underneath; down(wards); to go down; latter
trad. (七上八下)		七	上	八	下
simp. #(七上八下)		七	上	八	下

Etymology

A derivative of the general 七……八…… structure for chengyu. Compare English at sixes and sevens.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): qīshàngbāxià

  (Zhuyin): ㄑㄧ ㄕㄤˋ ㄅㄚ ㄒㄧㄚˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): cat¹ soeng⁵ baat³ haa⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: qīshàngbāxià
    • Zhuyin: ㄑㄧ ㄕㄤˋ ㄅㄚ ㄒㄧㄚˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: cishàngbasià
    • Wade–Giles: chʻi¹-shang⁴-pa¹-hsia⁴
    • Yale: chī-shàng-bā-syà
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chishanqbashiah
    • Palladius: цишанбася (cišanbasja)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕʰi⁵⁵ ʂɑŋ⁵¹ pä⁵⁵ ɕi̯ä⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: cat¹ soeng⁵ baat³ haa⁶
    • Yale: chāt séuhng baat hah
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tsat⁷ soeng⁵ baat⁸ haa⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: ced¹ sêng⁵ bad³ ha⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰɐt̚⁵ sœːŋ¹³ paːt̚³ haː²²/

Idiom

七上八下

1. to be nervous, anxious or perturbed; in an unsettled state of mind; to have butterflies in one's stomach
2. (rare) in a mess; to have a messy state of affairs
3. (Mainland China, politics) the unspoken rule that CCP officials aged less than 67 can remain in office and those aged over 68 will retire