📖 Meaning
Food cannot be swallowed. It describes being so worried or anxious that one loses all appetite and cannot bring oneself to eat. The phrase conveys deep distress that physically prevents eating.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from a Tang dynasty essay, the 'Afterword to the Biography of Zhang Zhongcheng' (《张中丞传后叙》) by the renowned writer Han Yu. In it, the loyal general Nan Jiyun makes a passionate declaration: when he arrived at the besieged city of Suiyang, its people had gone without food for over a month. Although he wanted to eat alone, his sense of righteousness would not allow it; and even if he tried to eat, he could not bring himself to swallow. The phrase 'food not down swallow' thus became a vivid expression of grief and moral anguish that makes eating impossible.
💡 Example Usage
得知母亲病重的消息，他整日食不下咽，憔悴了许多。
After learning that his mother was seriously ill, he could not bring himself to eat day after day and grew visibly haggard.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 食不下咽
- Pinyin: shí bù xià yàn
- Literal Translation: food, not, down, swallow
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4