赔了夫人又折兵 — “To suffer a double loss”
赔了夫人又折兵 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to suffer a double loss”. To attempt to gain an advantage but end up losing even more than what was initially risked. Literally, “Lost the wife and also lost the soldiers”.
赔了夫人又折兵 Pronunciation and Pinyin
- 赔péi
- 了le
- 夫fū
- 人rén
- 又yòu
- 折zhé
- 兵bīng
赔了夫人又折兵 Character Breakdown
Example Sentence with 赔了夫人又折兵
Origin and Story of 赔了夫人又折兵
During the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Sun Quan intended to reclaim Jingzhou. Zhou Yu proposed a scheme: 'fake a marriage proposal to hold Liu Bei hostage.'
Zhuge Liang, however, saw through the plot. He arranged for Zhao Yun to accompany Liu Bei, and their first stop was to visit Qiao Xuan, Zhou Yu's father-in-law. Qiao Xuan then persuaded Lady Wu (Sun Quan's mother) to meet Liu Bei at Ganlu Temple.
Lady Wu genuinely took a liking to Liu Bei and truly married her daughter, Sun Shangxiang, to him.
Sun Quan and Zhou Yu were consequently ridiculed with the saying, 'Zhou Yu's brilliant scheme to pacify the world resulted in losing the wife and also losing the soldiers.'
Idioms Related to 赔了夫人又折兵
Synonyms of 赔了夫人又折兵
Antonyms of 赔了夫人又折兵
More idioms starting with 赔
Questions about 赔了夫人又折兵
- What does 赔了夫人又折兵 mean?
- 赔了夫人又折兵 (péi le fū rén yòu zhé bīng) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to suffer a double loss”.
- How do you pronounce 赔了夫人又折兵?
- 赔了夫人又折兵 is pronounced péi le fū rén yòu zhé bīng in Mandarin Chinese.
- What does 赔了夫人又折兵 literally mean?
- Literally, 赔了夫人又折兵 means “Lost the wife and also lost the soldiers”. It is used to mean “to suffer a double loss”.
- Where does 赔了夫人又折兵 come from?
- 赔了夫人又折兵 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
- What is the Chinese definition of 赔了夫人又折兵?
- 比喻想占便宜，反而受到双重损失。