4 characters Idiom and proverb 18 586

Our mission is to provide free tools for learning Chinese. This series explores idioms and proverbs, meaningful phrases worth knowing. Today’s idiom: 「理屈詞窮」.

For this session, we will be discussing the idiom 「理屈詞窮」. See below for its meaning and practical usage.

Qu: short, loss; Qiong: exhausted. I have nothing to say because I am in the wrong.

The Mandarin pronunciation of this idiom is :

lǐ qū cí qióng

while its Cantonese pinyin is :

lei5 wat1 chi4 kung4

The sheer number of Chinese idioms and their varied meanings make them fascinating to study. Let these materials assist you as you advance your Chinese skills and understanding.