蝌蝌啃蠟

See also: 蝌蝌啃蜡

Chinese

			to gnaw; to nibble; to bite	candle; wax
trad. (蝌蝌啃蠟)	蝌	蝌	啃	蠟
simp. (蝌蝌啃蜡)	蝌	蝌	啃	蜡
variant forms	蝌蝌齦蠟／蝌蝌龈蜡
Literally: “tadpole chews wax”.

Etymology

Borrowed from English Coca-Cola. This was one of the very first names for Coca-Cola used in China in 1927, at a time when each vendor would come up with his own rendition of foreign names in Chinese.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): kēkēkěnlà

(Zhuyin): ㄎㄜㄎㄜㄎㄣˇ ㄌㄚˋ

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Pinyin: kēkēkěnlà
  - Zhuyin: ㄎㄜㄎㄜㄎㄣˇ ㄌㄚˋ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: kekekeenlah
  - IPA ^(key): /kʰɤ⁵⁵ kʰɤ⁵⁵ kʰən²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ lä⁵¹/

Proper noun

蝌蝌啃蠟

(obsolete) Coca-Cola

Synonyms

可口可樂／可口可乐 (Kěkǒukělè)

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