jat1 si1 bat1 gau2一絲不苟一丝不苟
Jyutpingjat1 si1 bat1 gau2
Yaleyāt sī bāt gáu
Definition
Meticulous, conscientious, and precise; paying extremely close attention to every detail.
neutralworkdescriptions
How it's used
Carries a formal tone that suggests high professional standards or a perfectionist attitude. It is frequently used to praise someone's work ethic or to describe a task that requires extreme precision, such as accounting or surgery. While it is a four character idiom, it fits naturally into spoken Cantonese sentences when emphasizing that someone does not cut corners.
Examples
He is meticulous in his work and is worth learning from.
Do you really have to be so scrupulous about this matter?
Related words
Common phrases
meticulous in work
scrupulous attitude
Common mistake
Learners often mistakenly use it to describe someone who is simply slow or indecisive. It specifically refers to being thorough and detail oriented, not just taking a long time to finish a task.
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
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Grammar guides
- In 30 secondsThe whole language at a glance. No tenses, no plurals, six tones, sentence particles. Read this before you dive into any specific topic.
- ParticlesSentence particles add tone, emotion, and nuance. Learn the most common particles in Cantonese and how to use them.
- Possession (嘅)How to say my, your, and his, and how to link a describing word to a noun, all with the little word 嘅 (ge3).
