📖 Meaning
Describes a naval fleet sailing in a V-shaped formation, with one ship leading at the center and the other ships flanking it in two sloping lines. The formation resembles the fanned tail of a fish and, equally, the wedge of geese flying overhead. It is used specifically for the orderly, wedge-like arrangement of vessels moving together.
📜 Origin Story
This is a descriptive coinage rather than an idiom with a literary origin story, and no classical source, dynasty, or named figure is recorded for it. The image draws on two long-standing Chinese metaphors for ordered motion: geese migrating in a V-shaped wedge (雁行) and the fanned tail of a fish (鱼尾). It came into use as a term for steam-powered squadrons and their maneuvering, where one lead ship occupies the apex and the rest trail back along two wings. Comparable formation imagery underlies the older expression 雁行鱼贯, which likens troops or travelers to flying geese and to fish swimming in single file.
💡 Example Usage
舰队鱼尾雁行，缓缓驶出港口。
The fleet sailed slowly out of the harbor, one ship leading and the rest fanning out behind it on either side.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 鱼尾雁行
- Pinyin: yú wěi yàn xíng
- Literal Translation: fish tail, geese in formation
- Category: Method
- Characters: 4