知难而退 (zhī nán ér tuì) — to retreat upon realizing the difficulties; to give up when things get tough

Definition

A chengyu meaning 'to shrink back once you see the difficulty' — usually a negative judgment of giving up too easily. Often paired with 坚持到底 in contrast (see the examples).

idiom
to retreat upon realizing the difficultiesto give up when things get tough

Examples

  • 知难而退，。
    Yù dào yì diǎn kùn nan jiù zhī nán ér tuì, zhè bú shì hǎo xí guàn.
    Giving up at the first sign of difficulty is not a good habit.
  • 知难而退，。
    Tā zuò shì cóng bù zhī nán ér tuì, zǒng shì jiān chí dào dǐ.
    He never retreats from difficulties when doing things; he always persists to the end.
  • ，知难而退。
    Zhè ge xiàng mù fēng xiǎn tài dà, wǒ men zuì hǎo zhī nán ér tuì.
    This project is too risky — we'd better back out.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

An early form of 知 showed 大 (adult), 口 (mouth), and 子 (child): an adult speaking to a child to pass on knowledge. The 子 part was dropped, and the 大 part changed shape.

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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 難; 难 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
隹隹zhuībird
Sound part声符shēngfú
暵
暵hàn難nán
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional 難 pairs 隹, a bird, with 暵 for sound, and meant a type of bird. It was later borrowed for other meanings; the modern 难 is a shorthand.

Open 难 →

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

The shape of 而 is a picture of a beard.

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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 →

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