📖 Meaning
Enemies meet on a narrow road. It describes a situation where enemies or people who wish to avoid each other unexpectedly cross paths, making confrontation unavoidable.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom comes from Ling Mengchu's 'Slapping the Table in Amazement' (初刻拍案惊奇), Volume 30, written during the Ming Dynasty. The phrase captures the dramatic irony of adversaries encountering each other in a tight spot where neither can avoid the other. The original context involves a karmic reckoning where one life demands payment for another, underscoring the inevitability of such fateful meetings.
💡 Example Usage
谁知冤家路窄，两人在电梯里不期而遇。
As fate would have it, the two rivals ran into each other in the elevator.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 冤家路窄
- Pinyin: yuān jiā lù zhǎi
- Literal Translation: enemy, family, road, narrow
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4