千头万绪 (qiān tóu wàn xù) — a multitude of loose ends; extremely complicated and confusing

Definition

Idiom for a situation with countless tangled threads — overwhelming, confusing, hard to know where to start. Often used with 局面 or 工作.

idiom
a multitude of loose endsextremely complicated and confusing

Examples

  • 千头万绪，。
    Zhè ge xiàng mù qiān tóu wàn xù, xū yào màn màn lái.
    This project is extremely complicated with many loose ends; we need to take it slowly.
  • ，千头万绪，。
    Gāng dào gōng sī de shí hou, qiān tóu wàn xù, wǒ gēn běn bù zhī dào cóng nǎ lǐ kāi shǐ.
    When I first arrived at the company, there were so many complicated tasks that I had no idea where to start.
  • 千头万绪，。
    Miàn duì qiān tóu wàn xù de jú miàn, tā yí bù bù shū lǐ qīng chǔ.
    Facing an extremely complicated situation, he sorted it out step by step.

Origin

Characters in this word

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
一一yīone, signifying a number
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén千qiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

千 pairs 人, whose sound was similar, with 一, a number stroke; the extra line was explained as extension, and a thousand is a number reached by extending counting.

Open 千 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 頭; 头 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
豆
豆dòu頭tóu
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 頭 shows 頁, meaning head, beside 豆 as a sound component; the simplified 头 is a later shorthand.

Open 头 →

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 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 緒; 绪 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
糹Written in full as糸mì
Sound part声符shēngfú
者
者zhě緒xù
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 緒 has 糹 (silk) and 者; 者 gives the sound. The simplified 绪 is not the form described here.

Open 绪 →

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