万全之策 (wàn quán zhī cè) — completely safe plan; surefire plan

Definition

A chengyu for a perfectly safe, foolproof plan — one with no risk of failure. Often used in the negation 没有万全之策 to acknowledge that no plan is risk-free.

noun
completely safe plansurefire plan

Examples

  • ，万全之策。
    Zhè ge fāng àn kǎo lǜ dé hěn zhōu quán, kě yǐ shuō shì wàn quán zhī cè.
    This plan is very well thought out; it can be called a surefire plan.
  • ，万全之策。
    Tā xiǎng le hěn jiǔ, zhōng yú xiǎng chū le yí gè wàn quán zhī cè.
    He thought for a long time and finally came up with a completely safe plan.
  • 万全之策，。
    Zuò shēng yi méi yǒu wàn quán zhī cè, zǒng huì yǒu fēng xiǎn.
    There is no surefire plan in business; there are always risks.

Origin

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 萬; 万 is its simplified writing.

For 万, the form 萬 was originally a picture of a scorpion, later borrowed for its sound to write 'ten thousand'; the scorpion picture is unrelated to that number.

Open 万 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The shape puts 入 together with 玉 to show a whole piece of jade, so it means complete or whole.

Open 全 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The shape pairs 止, a foot, with 一, a beginning place, and means to go.

Open 之 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
竹竹zhúbamboo
Sound part声符shēngfú
朿
朿cì策cè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

策 pairs 竹 (bamboo) with 朿 as a sound part.

Open 策 →

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