分身无术 fēn shēn wú shù unable to clone oneself

Explanation

意思是说一个人精力有限，无法同时应付多件事情。

It means that a person has limited energy and cannot handle many things at the same time.

Origin Story

话说唐朝时期，有个叫李白的诗人，才华横溢，文思泉涌。他经常应邀参加各种宴会，为达官显贵吟诗作赋，也时常与友人痛饮畅谈。同时，他还热衷于游历山水，寻找创作灵感。有一天，他同时收到了三个邀请：一个是宰相邀请他参加宴会，一个是好友邀请他去赏月，还有一个是皇帝邀请他进宫赋诗。李白左右为难，他渴望结交权贵，也珍惜与朋友的友谊，更不能拒绝皇帝的召唤。无奈之下，他只能感叹一声：“分身无术啊！”最终，他只能选择其中一个邀请出席，而对其他两个邀请只能婉拒，心中充满了遗憾。

huà shuō táng cháo shíqí, yǒu gè jiào lǐ bái de shī rén, cái huá héngyì, wén sī quán yǒng. tā jīng cháng yìngyāo cānjiā gè zhǒng yànhuì, wèi dáguān xiǎnguì yín shī zuò fù, yě shí cháng yǔ yǒurén tòng yǐn chàng tán. tóngshí, tā hái rèzhōng yú yóulì shān shuǐ, xún zhǎo chuàngzuò línggǎn. yǒu yī tiān, tā tóngshí shōudào le sān gè yāoqǐng: yīgè shì zǎixiàng yāoqǐng tā cānjiā yànhuì, yīgè shì hǎoyǒu yāoqǐng tā qù shǎng yuè, hái yǒu yīgè shì huángdì yāoqǐng tā jìng gōng fù shī. lǐ bái zuǒ yòu wéi nán, tā kěwàng jiéjiāo quán guì, yě zhēnxī yǔ péngyou de yǒuyì, gèng bù néng jùjué huángdì de zhào huān. wú nài zhī xià, tā zhǐ néng gǎntán yī shēng: “fēn shēn wú shù a!” zuìzhōng, tā zhǐ néng xuǎnzé qízhōng yīgè yāoqǐng chūxí, ér duì qítā liǎng gè yāoqǐng zhǐ néng wǎn jù, xīnzhōng chōngmǎn le yíhàn.

In the Tang Dynasty, there was a poet named Li Bai, who was talented and full of inspiration. He often attended banquets at the invitation of high-ranking officials to compose poems, and he also often drank and chatted with friends. At the same time, he was keen on traveling through mountains and rivers, seeking creative inspiration. One day, he received three invitations at the same time: one from the prime minister to a banquet, one from a friend to admire the moon, and one from the emperor to write poems in the palace. Li Bai was torn. He longed to make friends with powerful people, treasured his friendship with his friends, and could not refuse the emperor's summons. In the end, he could only sigh: "I cannot be in two places at once!" Finally, he could only choose one of the invitations to attend, and he could only decline the other two, filled with regret.

Usage

形容一个人应付不过来，难以兼顾多项事务。

xiáoróng yīgè rén yìngfù bùguò lái, nányǐ jiāngu多项 shìwù

Describes someone who is overwhelmed and unable to juggle multiple tasks.

Examples

• 李经理真是分身无术，既要管销售，又要管生产。

  lǐ jīnglǐ zhēnshi fēn shēn wú shù, jì yào guǎn xiāoshòu, yòu yào guǎn shēngchǎn.

  Manager Li is really stretched thin, managing both sales and production.

• 面对如此多的任务，我感觉自己分身无术。

  miàn duì rúcǐ duō de rènwu, wǒ gǎnjué zìjǐ fēn shēn wú shù

  I feel like I'm spread too thin with so many tasks to handle.

Related Idioms

• 分身乏术

• 捉襟见肘

Opposite Idioms

• 游刃有余

• 从容不迫