📖 Meaning
To be unable to devise any plan or solution; to be completely at a loss for ideas. It describes a situation where all options have been exhausted and no strategy can be found.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the 'Records of the Three Kingdoms' (三国志), in the Biography of Qiao Zhou from the Shu section. When the Shu kingdom faced the invading Wei army, the Later Lord Liu Shan summoned his ministers to a council, but no one could produce a workable strategy. Qiao Zhou ultimately advised surrender. The phrase thus evokes a moment of collective helplessness in the face of crisis.
💡 Example Usage
面对如此棘手的局面，众人计无所出，只得暂且按兵不动。
Faced with such a thorny situation, everyone could devise no plan and had no choice but to hold their position for the time being.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 计无所出
- Pinyin: jì wú suǒ chū
- Literal Translation: plan, none, that-which, come-out
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4