名落孙山

Traditional form:

名落孫山

Pinyin (reading):

míngluò Sūn Shān

Definitions:

• lit. to fall behind Sun Shan 孫山／孙山 ( Sūn Shān) (who came last in the imperial examination) (idiom)
• fig. to fail an exam
• to fall behind (in a competition)

Characters:

• 名 - name; position, rank, title
• 落 - to fall, to drop; surplus, net income
• 孙 - grandchild, descendent; surname
• 山 - mountain, hill, peak

Traditional characters:

• 名 - name; position, rank, title
• 落 - to fall, to drop; surplus, net income
• 孫 - grandchild, descendent; surname
• 山 - mountain, hill, peak