📖 Meaning
This idiom describes a scene where many people are acting together in a chaotic and uncoordinated manner. It conveys the sense of busy confusion when too many hands try to do something at once, often resulting in disorder rather than efficiency. It is commonly used when people rush to handle a task simultaneously.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the Song dynasty text 'Wudeng Huiyuan' (Compendium of the Five Lamps), compiled by the monk Puji. In the original Buddhist context, it described the confusion of sensory experiences—many hands and feet, many heads and faces—where one cannot truly see or hear, yet all experiences blend into one. Over time, the expression entered common usage to depict a disorderly scene of many people acting at once.
💡 Example Usage
众人七手八脚地将受伤的老人抬上了救护车。
The crowd hastily lifted the injured elderly man onto the ambulance, everyone pitching in at once.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 七手八脚
- Pinyin: qī shǒu bā jiǎo
- Literal Translation: seven hands, eight feet
- Category: Action
- Characters: 4