| 吴市吹箫 |
wú shì chuī xiāo |
(idiom) to beg on the streets; to fall into utter destitution (allusion to Wu Zixu's 伍子胥 exile and humiliation as described in Sima Qian's "Records of the Grand Historian" 史记) |
| 吴 |
Wú |
surname Wu / area comprising southern Jiangsu, northern Zhejiang and Shanghai / name of states in southern China at different historical periods |
| 市 |
shì |
market / city / municipality (administrative unit) / (literary) to trade; to buy and sell goods |
| 吹 |
chuī |
to blow / to play a wind instrument / to blast / to puff / to boast / to brag / to end in failure / to fall through |
| 吹箫 |
chuī xiāo |
to play the xiao 箫, a vertical bamboo flute / (literary) to beg on the streets (abbr. for 吴市吹箫) / (slang) to give a blowjob |
| 箫 |
xiāo |
xiao, a vertical bamboo flute |