📖 Meaning
Describes a scheme or plan born out of desperation, when one has no other viable options. It conveys that the action taken was not a well-thought-out strategy but rather a last resort forced by circumstances. The idiom highlights the helplessness behind the decision rather than its cleverness.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the 'Records of the Grand Historian' (Shiji) by Sima Qian, in the chapter on the Biographies of Wu Wang Bi. During the Western Han Dynasty, King Liu Bi of Wu feigned illness to avoid imperial scrutiny. When Emperor Jing's envoy pressed the Wu envoy for an explanation, the envoy admitted that the king, terrified of being executed, had no real plan — his actions were merely a desperate response born of helplessness. The phrase 'ji nai wu liao' captures the king's predicament of having no way out.
💡 Example Usage
他之所以答应这个条件，完全是计出无聊，并非真心同意。
He agreed to those terms entirely out of desperation, not because he genuinely consented.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 计出无聊
- Pinyin: jì chū wú liáo
- Literal Translation: plan, out of, without, recourse
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4