📖 Meaning
To employ unexpected tactics and ingenious strategies endlessly. It describes someone whose methods are so varied and unpredictable that others cannot easily grasp or counter them. The phrase emphasizes inexhaustible creativity in strategy.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from Qing Dynasty scholar Ji Yun's 'Notes from the Thatched Abode of Close Observations' (阅微草堂笔记), in the section 'Records of Summer Leisure at Luanhe.' It describes a wandering monk who visited the home of an official surnamed Su in Jiaohe. The monk was skilled in illusionary arts and conjured one marvel after another without end, claiming to share the same master as a certain Daoist named Lü.
💡 Example Usage
这位魔术师手法出奇不穷，令观众惊叹不已。
The magician's techniques were endlessly surprising, leaving the audience in awe.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 出奇不穷
- Pinyin: chū qí bù qióng
- Literal Translation: send out, surprising, not, exhausted
- Category: Method
- Characters: 4