一言既出，駟馬難追

Chinese

one sentence; something to say; brief remark already; since; both... (and...)
to go out; to come out; to occur
to go out; to come out; to occur; to produce; to go beyond; to rise; to put forth; to happen; (a measure word for dramas, plays, or operas)
 
 words cannot be taken back once they are spoken
trad. (一言既出，駟馬難追) 一言 既 出 ， 駟馬難追
simp. (一言既出，驷马难追) 一言 既 出 ， 驷马难追
Literally: “once said, a team of horses cannot unsay it”.

Etymology

Based on a passage in the Analects, Book 12 (《論語·顏淵》):

子貢曰：「惜乎！夫子之說君子也。駟不及舌。……」 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
子贡曰：「惜乎！夫子之说君子也。驷不及舌。……」 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]
From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
Zǐgòng yuē: “Xī hū! Fūzǐ zhī shuō jūnzǐ yě. Sì bùjí shé.......” [Pinyin]
Zigong said: "How regrettable are your words about the superior person. A four-horse-team cannot overtake the tongue. [...]"

Pronunciation

  • Mandarin
    • (Standard Chinese)+
      • Hanyu Pinyin: yīyánjìchū, sìmǎnánzhuī [Phonetic: yìyánjìchū, sìmǎnánzhuī]
      • Zhuyin: ㄧ ㄧㄢˊ ㄐㄧˋ ㄔㄨ , ㄙˋ ㄇㄚˇ ㄋㄢˊ ㄓㄨㄟ
      • Tongyong Pinyin: yiyánjìchu, sìhmǎnánjhuei
      • Wade–Giles: i1-yen2-chi4-chʻu1, ssŭ4-ma3-nan2-chui1
      • Yale: yī-yán-jì-chū-, sz̀-mǎ-nán-jwēi
      • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: iyanjihchu, syhmaananjuei
      • Palladius: ияньцзичу, сымананьчжуй (ijanʹcziču, symananʹčžuj)
      • Sinological IPA (key): /i⁵⁵⁻⁵¹ jɛn³⁵ t͡ɕi⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʰu⁵⁵ sz̩⁵¹ mä²¹⁴⁻²¹ nän³⁵ ʈ͡ʂu̯eɪ̯⁵⁵/
  • Cantonese
  • Southern Min
    • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
      • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: it-giân-kì-chhut, sù-má-lân-tui
      • Tâi-lô: it-giân-kì-tshut, sù-má-lân-tui
      • IPA (Taipei): /it̚³²⁻⁴ ɡiɛn²⁴ ki¹¹⁻⁵³ t͡sʰut̚³² su¹¹⁻⁵³ mã⁵³ lan²⁴⁻¹¹ tui⁴⁴/
      • IPA (Kaohsiung): /it̚³²⁻⁴ ɡiɛn²³ ki²¹⁻⁴¹ t͡sʰut̚³² su²¹⁻⁴¹ mã⁴¹ lan²³⁻³³ tui⁴⁴/

Idiom

一言既出，駟馬難追

  1. A word once spoken cannot be taken back; A promise must be kept

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (一言既出，駟馬難追):

Others:

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.