大势已去 (dà shì yǐ qù) — (idiom) the situation is hopeless; all is lost

Definition

Chengyu meaning 'the大势 (general trend) has already gone' — the situation is hopeless and cannot be reversed, typically after a decisive loss or collapse.

idiom
the situation is hopelessall is lost

Examples

  • ，大势已去。
    Dí jūn gōng rù chéng nèi, dà shì yǐ qù le.
    The enemy forces entered the city, and the situation was beyond salvation.
  • ，大势已去，。
    Gōng sī miàn lín pò chǎn, dà shì yǐ qù, yuán gōng men fēi cháng jǔ sàng.
    The company was facing bankruptcy and all was lost; the employees were very frustrated.
  • ，，大势已去，。
    Bǐ sài hái shèng zuì hòu wǔ fēn zhōng, dàn wǒ men luò hòu hěn duō fēn, dà shì yǐ qù, dà jiā méi yǒu fàng qì.
    There were only five minutes left in the game, but we were far behind; the situation seemed hopeless, but no one gave up.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

The form 大 is a picture of a person standing and facing forward, not of someone stretching their arms.

Open 大 →

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 勢; 势 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
力力lìpower
Sound part声符shēngfú
埶
埶yì勢shì
Same sound today

The traditional form 勢 combines 力, meaning power, with 埶 for the sound. The simplified 势 is a later shorthand, so its parts are not the original parts.

Open 势 →

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

The shape of 已 may originally have been a drawing of either a snake or a fetus.

Open 已 →

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

去 pairs 大, a man, with 口, a mouth or object. The evidence reads this as a man leaving a place, a man opening his mouth, or a cover over an object.

Open 去 →

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