退避三舍 (tuì bì sān shè) — to give way to someone; to deliberately avoid a conflict or confrontation; to keep one's distance from something (in order to stay out of trouble)

Definition

A literary chengyu: 'retreat three舍 to avoid' — i.e. step back deliberately to avoid conflict. Implies strategic yielding, not cowardice.

idiom
to give way to someoneto deliberately avoid a conflict or confrontationto keep one's distance from something (in order to stay out of trouble)

Examples

  • ，退避三舍。
    Nà wèi lǎo zhuān jiā pí qi hěn dà, tóng shì men dōu duì tā tuì bì sān shè.
    That old expert has a bad temper; all his colleagues give way to him.
  • ，退避三舍。
    Yù dào zhè zhǒng mǐn gǎn huà tí, tā tōng cháng xuǎn zé tuì bì sān shè.
    When encountering such sensitive topics, he usually chooses to avoid them assiduously.
  • ，退避三舍，。
    Zài shāng yè tán pàn zhōng, yǒu shí tuì bì sān shè bú shì shì ruò, ér shì cè lüè.
    In business negotiations, sometimes giving way is not a sign of weakness but a strategy.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

  • 皀皀jífood vessel
  • 夊夊suīdownward foot

退 originally showed 皀, a food vessel, with 夊, a downward foot, for leaving the table after eating. In modern 退, the vessel part 皀 changed into an unrelated shape.

Open 退 →

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
辶Written in full as辵chuòto walk
Sound part声符shēngfú
辟
辟pì避bì
Same sound today

避 is built from 辶, a walking-related form, plus 辟, which gives the pronunciation.

Open 避 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

三 is drawn as three parallel strokes, like 一 with one stroke and 二 with two.

Open 三 →

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
口口kǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
余
余yú舍shè
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

舍 is 余 plus 口. 余 was the original picture for this word, and 口 was later added to distinguish it.

Open 舍 →

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