泥菩萨过河
ní​pú​sà​guò​hé

unable to save oneself

  • created sense approved 泥菩萨过河/泥菩薩過河 · ní​pú​sà​guò​hé · unable to save oneself — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    泥菩萨过河 / 泥菩薩過河

    ní​pú​sà​guò​hé

    unable to save oneself

    a clay idol crossing a river is hard-pressed to save itself; hardly able to save oneself, let alone help others

    泥菩萨 (literal) → 泥菩萨/泥菩薩 · ní​pú​sà · clay idol 过 (literal) → 过/過 · guò · to cross 河 (literal) → 河 · hé · river

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

    created sense