啼笑皆非 — “To not know whether to cry or laugh”
啼笑皆非 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to not know whether to cry or laugh”. To be in an awkward, embarrassing, or ludicrous situation; to find something both annoying and amusing, leading to a state of mixed emotions or confusion. Literally, “neither to cry nor to laugh; both crying and laughing are inappropriate”.
啼笑皆非 Pronunciation and Pinyin
啼笑皆非 Character Breakdown
Stroke OrderExample Sentence with 啼笑皆非
Origin and Story of 啼笑皆非
During the final days of the Southern Chen Dynasty, Xu Deyan and his wife, Princess Lechang, anticipated impending separation. They broke a bronze mirror into two halves, each keeping one piece, and promised to reunite on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, by finding someone selling the other half of the mirror in the market.
After the fall of Chen, Princess Lechang was taken into the household of Yang Su.
On the agreed-upon day, Xu Deyan managed to reach Chang'an. He found a servant selling a broken mirror piece and, through it, successfully reunited with Princess Lechang in front of Yang Su.
At this reunion, Princess Lechang composed a poem that included the line, '笑啼俱不敢，方验做人难' (I dare neither to laugh nor to cry, only then do I truly realize the difficulty of being human). This line perfectly captures the profound mixed emotions and helplessness that underpin the idiom '啼笑皆非'.
Idioms Related to 啼笑皆非
Antonyms of 啼笑皆非
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Open the tool →Questions about 啼笑皆非
What does 啼笑皆非 mean?
啼笑皆非 (tí xiào jiē fēi) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to not know whether to cry or laugh”.
How do you pronounce 啼笑皆非?
啼笑皆非 is pronounced tí xiào jiē fēi in Mandarin Chinese.
What does 啼笑皆非 literally mean?
Literally, 啼笑皆非 means “neither to cry nor to laugh; both crying and laughing are inappropriate”. It is used to mean “to not know whether to cry or laugh”.
Where does 啼笑皆非 come from?
啼笑皆非 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
What is the Chinese definition of 啼笑皆非?
啼：哭；皆非：都不是。哭也不是，笑也不是，不知如何才好。形容处境尴尬或既令人难受又令人发笑的行为。