📖 Meaning
Extending one's fists and rolling up one's sleeves. It describes a rough, aggressive posture indicating a readiness for physical confrontation or violence. Often used to portray someone behaving in a domineering or belligerent manner.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom is a variant of the more common forms 揎拳捋袖 and 揎拳裸袖 found in classical vernacular literature. It vividly depicts the physical gestures of someone preparing to fight — clenching fists and pushing up sleeves. Such phrasing appears in Ming and Qing dynasty novels and dramas to characterize coarse, hot-tempered, or thuggish individuals. No single authoritative source is attributed to this particular character variant.
💡 Example Usage
那醉汉揎拳捰袖，在酒馆里大闹起来。
The drunk man clenched his fists and rolled up his sleeves, raising a ruckus in the tavern.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 揎拳捰袖
- Pinyin: xuān quán lǒng xiù
- Literal Translation: extend fist, roll up sleeves
- Category: Action
- Characters: 4