三七二十一 (sān qī èr shí yī) — (idiom) regardless of the consequences; no matter what; without considering the details

Definition

A colloquial idiom meaning 'regardless of the consequences' or 'without thinking through the details,' used in 不管三七二十一 ('no matter what'). It signals reckless, headlong action rather than careful planning.

idiom
regardless of the consequencesno matter whatwithout considering the details

Examples

  • 三七二十一，。
    Tā bù guǎn sān qī èr shí yī, zhí jiē chōng le jìn qù.
    He charged right in regardless.
  • 三七二十一，。
    Wǒ men bù guǎn sān qī èr shí yī, xiān bǎ shì qing zuò le zài shuō.
    Let's just do it first and talk later, no matter what.
  • 三七二十一，。
    Tóu zī bù néng bù guǎn sān qī èr shí yī, yào zǐ xì fēn xī fēng xiǎn.
    Investing can't be done without thinking — you need to carefully analyze the risks.

Origin

Characters in this word

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 →

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

The shape of 七 comes from two crossing lines: the top line runs left to right, and the next line goes down and across.

Open 七 →

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

二 is drawn as two parallel strokes, where the number of strokes shows the amount.

Open 二 →

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

The early shape 十 was mostly a single vertical stroke, sometimes with a dot, and later gained a horizontal stroke to form a cross. For the number ten, it marked the next digit above one.

Open 十 →

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

一 is drawn as one horizontal stroke, marking the number one.

Open 一 →

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