三个和尚没水喝 in English san1 ge4 he2 shang5 mei2 shui3 he1 Meaning

Meanings

  • literally (word for word) three monks have no water to drink (idiomatic expression)
  • metaphorically everybody's business is nobody's business
  • (If there is one monk, he will fand so onh water for himself. If there are two, they will fand so onh water together. But if there are three or more, none will take it upon himself to fand so onh water.)

Simplified Characters

三 个 和 尚 没 水 喝

Traditional Characters

三 個 和 尚 沒 水 喝

Pinyin

san1 ge4 he2 shang5 mei2 shui3 he1

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

三san1surname San 个ge4individual 和he2old variant of 和[he2] 尚shang4surname Shang 没mei2(negative prefix for verbs) 水shui3surname Shui 喝he1to drink