📖 Meaning
Being unable to adapt to the climate, environment, or dietary habits of a new place. It describes the physical discomfort people experience when relocating or traveling to an unfamiliar region.
📜 Origin Story
This phrase comes from the Records of the Three Kingdoms (三国志), in the Biography of Zhou Yu within the Wu annals. During the late Eastern Han dynasty, the warlord Cao Cao led his northern army south to attack Sun Quan's forces. Zhou Yu argued that Cao Cao's soldiers, unaccustomed to the southern climate and terrain, would inevitably fall ill. This assessment bolstered confidence in the allied strategy that culminated in the famous Battle of Red Cliffs.
💡 Example Usage
初到高原，他不习水土，连日感到头晕乏力。
Newly arrived on the plateau, he could not adapt to the local climate and felt dizzy and weak for days.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 不习水土
- Pinyin: bù xí shuǐ tǔ
- Literal Translation: not, accustomed to, water, soil
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4