驷马难追
sì​mǎ​nán​zhuī

what is said cannot be unsaid

  • created reference approved 驷马难追/駟馬難追 → 一言既出，驷马难追/一言既出，駟馬難追 (see) — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    驷马难追 / 駟馬難追 sì​mǎ​nán​zhuī

    一言既出，驷马难追 / 一言既出，駟馬難追 yī​yán​jì​chū​sì​mǎ​nán​zhuī

    see

    Changed: source (simp), source (trad), source pinyin, target (simp), target (trad), target pinyin, type

    created reference

  • created sense approved 驷马难追/駟馬難追 · sì​mǎ​nán​zhuī · what is said cannot be unsaid — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    驷马难追 / 駟馬難追

    sì​mǎ​nán​zhuī

    what is said cannot be unsaid

    A team of four horses cannot catch up with a spoken word; used to mean that once something is said, it cannot be taken back

    驷 (literal) → 驷/駟 · sì · four-horse team 马 (literal) → 马/馬 · mǎ · horse 难 (literal) → 难/難 · nán · difficult 追 (literal) → 追 · zhuī · to chase

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

    created sense