尔虞我诈
- Literal
- you deceive, I cheat
- Figurative
- Each side deceiving and scheming against the other; said disapprovingly of a world of mutual distrust and double-dealing.
Where does 尔虞我诈 come from?
It comes from the 《左传》, though turned inside out. In the fifteenth year of Duke Xuan of Lu, the state of Chu had spent months besieging the Song capital, which was starving. Hua Yuan, a Song minister, slipped into the enemy camp by night, climbed onto the bed of the general Zifan and told him Song would rather perish than surrender beneath its walls, but would do as asked if Chu pulled back. Zifan, alarmed, made a pact with him, and Chu withdrew. The peace oath read “我无尔诈，尔无我虞”: I will not deceive you, you will not deceive me. The idiom flips it to describe mutual distrust and trickery.
Source (出处): 《左传·宣公十五年》
How is 尔虞我诈 used? Two examples
- 我受够了公司里尔虞我诈的气氛，想换个简单点的工作。
I'm sick of all the backstabbing and scheming at the company and want a simpler job.
- 兄弟俩为了分家产尔虞我诈，连父母都看不下去了。
The two brothers keep scheming against each other over the family property, and even their parents can't bear to watch.
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