To master Chinese, begin with characters, move to words, and then idioms. Here’s the idiom 「潑水難收」 explained, free of charge.
Today’s featured Chinese idiom is 「潑水難收」, and its meaning and usage are explained below.
According to legend, Zhu Maichen of the Han Dynasty was left by his wife because his family was poor. Later, when Maichen became rich, his wife asked for reconciliation. Maichen took some water and poured it on the ground, and asked his wife to take it back, to show that since they were divorced, they could never get back together. Later it was used to describe an irreversible situation.
The Mandarin pronunciation of this idiom is :
pō shuǐ nán shōu
while its Cantonese pinyin is :
put3 seui2 naan4 sau1
There’s no shortage of Chinese idioms, each offering unique meanings and ways to use them. This guide is here to assist you as you improve your understanding of the language.
