隔岸观火 (gé àn guān) — to watch someone's trouble from a safe distance without helping; to be an indifferent bystander
Definition
A chengyu for 'watching a fire from the other shore' — standing by indifferently while others suffer. Strongly negative: it criticizes the bystander, unlike neutral verbs like 观看.
idiom
to watch someone's trouble from a safe distance without helpingto be an indifferent bystander
Examples
- ，隔岸观火，。Lín jū jiā shī huǒ, tā què gé àn guān, shí zài ràng rén xīn hán.His neighbor's house caught fire, but he just watched from the sidelines — truly chilling.
- ，隔岸观火。Miàn duì péng you de kùn jìng, wǒ men bú yīng gāi gé àn guān.Faced with a friend's difficulty, we shouldn't just stand by and watch.
- 隔岸观火。Zhè zhǒng gé àn guān de tài dù zài tuán duì hé zuò zhōng hěn bù kě qǔ.This kind of indifferent bystander attitude is very undesirable in teamwork.
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