| 软刀子 |
ruǎn dāo zi |
(lit.) the soft knife / (fig.) underhanded tactics / devious means of attack |
| 软 |
ruǎn |
soft / flexible |
| 软 |
ruǎn |
variant of 软 |
| 刀 |
Dāo |
surname Dao |
| 刀 |
dāo |
knife / blade / single-edged sword / cutlass / CL:把 / (slang) dollar (loanword) / classifier for sets of one hundred sheets (of paper) / classifier for knife cuts or stabs |
| 刀子 |
dāo zi |
knife / CL:把 |
| 子 |
zǐ |
son / child / seed / egg / small thing / 1st earthly branch: 11 p.m.-1 a.m., midnight, 11th solar month (7th December to 5th January), year of the rat / viscount, fourth of five orders of nobility 五等爵位 / ancient Chinese compass point: 0° (north) / subsidiary; subordinate; (prefix) sub- |
| 子 |
zi |
noun suffix, as in 椅子 "chair" |