📖 Meaning
Describes walking or running so fast that one's feet barely seem to touch the ground. It conveys a sense of extreme busyness or urgency, as if constantly on the move. A variant of the idiom '脚不点地'.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the classic Qing dynasty novel 'Dream of the Red Chamber' (红楼梦) by Cao Xueqin. In Chapter 20, the character Granny Li (李嬷嬷) is described as following Wang Xifeng so hastily that her feet did not touch the ground. The vivid image of feet never landing conveys the speed and urgency of her movement, and the expression has since become a common way to describe someone rushing about ceaselessly.
💡 Example Usage
年底赶项目，他脚不沾地地忙了一个月，连家都没回过几次。
Rushing to finish the year-end project, he was so busy that his feet barely touched the ground for a whole month, hardly even returning home.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 脚不沾地
- Pinyin: jiǎo bù zhān dì
- Literal Translation: feet, not, touch, ground
- Category: Action
- Characters: 4