纸上谈兵
zhǐ​shàng​tán​bīng

armchair strategist

  • created sense approved 纸上谈兵/紙上談兵 · zhǐ​shàng​tán​bīng · armchair strategist — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    纸上谈兵 / 紙上談兵

    zhǐ​shàng​tán​bīng

    armchair strategist

    lit. discussing military tactics on paper; used to describe theoretical talk that is impractical or useless in reality; idle theorizing; alludes to Zhao Kuo of the Warring States period, whose theoretical knowledge of military strategy led to the disastrous defeat of the Zhao army at the Battle of Changping

    纸 (literal) → 纸/紙 · zhǐ · paper 上 (bound) → 上 · shang · on 谈 (literal) → 谈/談 · tán · to talk 兵 (literal) → 兵 · bīng · warfare

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

    created sense