跳进黄河洗不清
tiào​jìn​huáng​hé​xǐ​bù​qīng

deeply mired in trouble

  • created sense approved 跳进黄河洗不清/跳進黃河洗不清 · tiào​jìn​huáng​hé​xǐ​bù​qīng · deeply mired in trouble — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    跳进黄河洗不清 / 跳進黃河洗不清

    tiào​jìn​huáng​hé​xǐ​bù​qīng

    deeply mired in trouble

    Literally "even jumping into the Yellow River cannot wash one clean"; used to describe being unable to clear one's name or being hopelessly mired in controversy.

    跳进 (literal) → 跳进/跳進 · tiào​jìn · to jump into 黄河 (literal) → 黄河/黃河 · huáng​hé · Yellow River 洗 (literal) → 洗 · xǐ · to clear away 不 (literal) → 不 · bu · [potential] 清 (literal) → 清 · qīng · clearly

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

    created sense