📖 Meaning
To exhaust every possible argument and take one's reasoning to its ultimate conclusion. It describes a situation where words have been fully stated and logic has been pursued to its fullest extent, leaving nothing more to be said.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase comes from a memorial submitted by the Song dynasty statesman Wang Anshi, titled 'Seventh of Five Memorials Declining the Post of Co-Editor of the Imperial Diary.' In it, Wang Anshi pleaded with Emperor Shenzong to understand his sincerity, stating that he had said everything possible and reasoned to the utmost—unlike earlier occasions when declining a post still left some room for compromise. The expression thus originates from a formal political context of earnest remonstration.
💡 Example Usage
辩论至此，双方已词穷理极，再无转圜余地。
At this point in the debate, both sides had exhausted every argument and pushed their reasoning to the limit, leaving no room for compromise.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 词穷理极
- Pinyin: cí qióng lǐ jí
- Literal Translation: words, exhausted, reasoning, reached the extreme
- Category: Logic
- Characters: 4