📖 Meaning
Literally to spit on one's hands before grabbing something, so that it can be taken in hand at once. It describes something extremely easy to obtain or achieve, requiring almost no effort. Often used for opportunities, victory, or success that is well within reach.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase traces to the Eastern Han dynasty warlord Gongsun Zan, recorded in the Book of the Later Han (后汉书·公孙瓒传) through a commentary by Li Xian quoting the now-lost Nine Provinces Spring and Autumn Annals (九州春秋). When the Yellow Turban uprising broke out and rival warlords rose across the realm, Gongsun Zan boasted that he could settle the chaos as easily as spitting on his own palm, saying 'When the world's troops first rose, I thought it could be decided with a spit of the hand.' The image of moistening one's palm for a firmer grip suggested effortlessness, and the saying was later fixed as the four-character idiom 唾手可得. It is now used to describe any prize or goal that appears trivially easy to win.
💡 Example Usage
以他的实力，赢得这次比赛简直唾手可得。
With his ability, winning this competition is simply a matter of reaching out and taking it.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 唾手可得
- Pinyin: tuò shǒu kě dé
- Literal Translation: spit, hand, can, get
- Category: Success
- Characters: 4