胳膊扭不过大腿
gē​bo​niǔ​bu​guò​dà​tuǐ

the weak cannot overcome the strong

  • created sense approved 胳膊扭不过大腿/胳膊扭不過大腿 · gē​bo​niǔ​bu​guò​dà​tuǐ · the weak cannot overcome the strong — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    胳膊扭不过大腿 / 胳膊扭不過大腿

    gē​bo​niǔ​bu​guò​dà​tuǐ

    the weak cannot overcome the strong

    the underdog cannot match a superior force, literally the arm cannot twist harder than the thigh

    胳膊 (literal) → 胳膊 · gē​bo · arm 扭 (literal) → 扭 · niǔ · to go against 不 (literal) → 不 · bu · [potential] 过 (literal) → 过/過 · guò · [potential/result] 大腿 (literal) → 大腿 · dà​tuǐ · thigh

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

    created sense