不知所措
- Literal
- not knowing what to set in place
- Figurative
- To be at a complete loss when something sudden or difficult hits, too rattled to know where to begin.
Where does 不知所措 come from?
In the Analects, Zilu asks Confucius what he would do first if he were handed the government of the state of Wei. "Rectify the names," the master answers, and then runs down the chain: if names are not correct, speech does not hold; if speech does not hold, affairs do not get done; and so on, rung by rung, until punishments no longer fit and the people "no longer know where to put hand or foot." That is where the image comes from: 措 means "to place, to arrange," and someone who does not know 所措 cannot find what to put or where to put it — they freeze, unable to take a first step. The four-character phrase is not in the Analects; in its finished form it turns up centuries later in the 《三国志》.
Source (出处): 《论语·子路》
How is 不知所措 used? Two examples
- 电话里说奶奶住院了，她一下子不知所措。
On the phone they told her Grandma had been hospitalized, and she froze, at a total loss.
- 客人突然来了，我一个人在家有点不知所措。
Guests showed up out of nowhere and, home alone, I was a bit at a loss for what to do.
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