五十步笑百步 in English wu3 shi2 bu4 xiao4 bai3 bu4 Meaning

Meanings

  • the one who has retreated 50 steps laughs at the one who has retreated 100 steps (idiomatic expression)
  • the pot calls the kettle black

Simplified Characters

五 十 步 笑 百 步

Traditional Characters

五 十 步 笑 百 步

Pinyin

wu3 shi2 bu4 xiao4 bai3 bu4

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

五wu3five 十shi2ten 步bu4surname Bu 笑xiao4old variant of 笑[xiao4] 百bai3surname Bai 步bu4surname Bu