After learning basic characters, the next level in Chinese is combining them into words, and then idioms. This free guide helps you understand advanced idioms like 「左支右絀」. Meaning and usage are below.
Here’s the idiom 「左支右絀」, with its definition and practical application described below.
支: support; 絀: bend, extended to mean insufficient. Originally it refers to the posture of bending the bow and shooting arrows, with the left hand supporting and the right hand bent. It means that there is insufficient strength, and when we deal with one aspect, problems arise again in another aspect.
The Mandarin pronunciation of this idiom is :
zuǒ zhī yòu chù
while its Cantonese pinyin is :
jo2 ji1 yau6 jyut3
There are countless Chinese idioms, all rich in meaning and application. Each one is unique, and we hope this information helps you explore and enhance your Chinese language knowledge.
