束之高阁 (shù zhī gāo gé) — to set aside / to shelve (a plan, proposal, etc.) / to disregard and leave unused

Definition

An idiom meaning to shelve a plan or proposal and never act on it — literally 'tie it up on a high shelf'. The plan is kept but deliberately ignored, not merely delayed.

idiom
to set aside / to shelve (a plan, proposal, etc.) / to disregard and leave unused

Examples

  • ，束之高阁。
    Zhè ge fāng àn hěn hǎo, dàn bèi lǐng dǎo shù zhī gāo gé le.
    This plan is very good, but it was shelved by the leader.
  • ，束之高阁，。
    Tā mǎi le hěn duō shū, què yì zhí shù zhī gāo gé, gēn běn méi yǒu kàn guò.
    He bought a lot of books, but kept them on the shelf and never read them.
  • 束之高阁，。
    Nà xiē jiàn yì dōu bèi shù zhī gāo gé le, méi rén yuàn yì tǎo lùn.
    Those suggestions were all shelved; no one was willing to discuss them.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 束 comes from a drawing of a bag tied at both ends.

Open 束 →

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

The shape pairs 止, a foot, with 一, a beginning place, and means to go.

Open 之 →

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

高 was drawn as a tall building.

Open 高 →

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 閣; 阁 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
門門méngate
Sound part声符shēngfú
各
各gè閣gé
Same sound today

The traditional form 閣 pairs 門 (gate) with 各, which gives the pronunciation; this note is about 閣, not the simplified 阁.

Open 阁 →

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