📖 Meaning
A dried fish strung on a rope, waiting to rot or be eaten by worms. The idiom describes something whose days of existence are numbered, often used of an aging person or a declining situation that will not last much longer.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom comes from the Han dynasty text Han Shi Wai Zhuan (韩诗外传), compiled by the scholar Han Ying (韩婴). In chapter one, it poses the rhetorical question '枯鱼衔索，几何不蠹?' — a dried fish strung on a rope, how long before it rots? The image of a desiccated fish kept on a string, which cannot last before it decays, is used as a metaphor for the brevity of one's remaining days and the inevitability of decline.
💡 Example Usage
病中的老人常说枯鱼衔索，自知来日无多。
The ailing old man often says he is like a dried fish strung on a rope, well aware that his days are numbered.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 枯鱼衔索
- Pinyin: kū yú xián suǒ
- Literal Translation: dried, fish, hold in mouth, rope
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4