吃不到葡萄说葡萄酸 / 吃不到葡萄說葡萄酸

chī​bù​dào​pú​tao​shuō​pú​tao​suān

sour grapes

to claim that something is not worth having because you cannot get it; a set expression based on the Aesop fable of the fox and the grapes

吃 (literal) → 吃 · chī · to eat 不到 (literal) → 不到 · bù​dào · [potential] 葡萄 (literal) → 葡萄 · pú​tao · grape 说 (literal) → 说/說 · shuō · to say 葡萄 (literal) → 葡萄 · pú​tao · grape 酸 (literal) → 酸 · suān · jealous

Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

created sense May 20, 2026, 07:57 PM