畏首畏尾 wèi shǒu wèi wěi fearful and hesitant

Explanation

形容做事胆小,顾虑太多,不敢放手去做,像怕头又怕尾一样。

This idiom describes someone who is timid and hesitant, afraid of everything and unable to make decisions.

Origin Story

春秋时期,郑国夹在晋国和楚国之间,晋楚争霸经常打击和拉拢郑国。一次,晋灵公召集小国开会,郑穆公没有去,晋灵公想出兵威胁,郑公子归生知道后给晋灵公写信劝止,说:“畏首畏尾,身其余几”,如果被逼无奈就投降楚国,两国和谈。

chun qiu shi qi, zheng guo jia zai jin guo he chu guo zhi jian, jin chu zheng ba jing chang da ji he la long zheng guo. yi ci, jin ling gong zhao ji xiao guo kai hui, zheng mu gong mei you qu, jin ling gong xiang chu bing wei xie, zheng gong zi gui sheng zhi dao hou gei jin ling gong xie xin quan zhi, shuo: "wei shou wei wei, shen yu qi ji", ru guo bei bi wu nai jiu tou xiang chu guo, liang guo he tan.

During the Spring and Autumn period, the State of Zheng was located between the States of Jin and Chu. Jin and Chu often fought for dominance and either attacked or tried to win over Zheng. Once, Jin Linggong summoned the small states to a meeting, but Zheng Mugong did not attend. Jin Linggong planned to threaten Zheng with his army. The prince of Zheng, Guisheng, learned of this and wrote a letter to Jin Linggong to dissuade him. He wrote: “If you are always afraid, you will end up with nothing left.” If Zheng were forced, it should surrender to Chu so that the two states could make peace.

Usage

这个成语形容做事胆小,顾虑太多,不敢放手去做,就像怕头又怕尾一样。比喻缺乏决断,犹豫不决。

zhe ge cheng yu xing rong zuo shi dan xiao, gu lv tai duo, bu gan fang shou qu zuo, jiu xiang pa tou you pa wei yi yang. bi yu que fa jue duan, you yu bu jue.

This idiom describes someone who is timid and hesitant, afraid of everything and unable to make decisions. It implies that someone is indecisive and lacks determination.

Examples

  • 他做事总是畏首畏尾,缺乏果断性。

    ta zuo shi zong shi wei shou wei wei, que fa guo duan xing.

    He always shies away from taking responsibility.

  • 面对困难,我们不能畏首畏尾,要勇于挑战。

    mian dui kun nan, wo men bu neng wei shou wei wei, yao yong yu tiao zhan.

    We shouldn't be afraid of challenges, we should be brave enough to face them.