菜鳥

菜鸟
càiniǎo
  1. (coll.) sb new to a particular subject
  2. rookie
  3. beginner
  4. newbie

CEDICT

colloquial

Entry Composition

1 菜 cài
  1. (of one's skills etc) weak; poor
  2. (coll.) (one's) type

classifiers: 棵, 樣, 道, 盤
2 鳥 niǎo
  1. bird
  2. "bird" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 196)
  3. (dialect) to pay attention to
  4. (intensifier) damned
  5. goddamn

classifiers: 隻, 群