黔驴技穷
- Literal
- the donkey of Qian runs out of tricks
- Figurative
- To have exhausted one's few, limited resources; to be at the end of one's meager bag of tricks with nothing left to try.
Where does 黔驴技穷 come from?
In a fable by Liu Zongyuan, part of his collection "Three Warnings," a meddler brought a donkey by boat into the region of Qian, where donkeys were unknown, and, finding it useless, set it loose at the foot of a hill. A tiger saw it and, frightened by the huge, strange beast, hid among the trees to watch it. One day the donkey brayed loudly and the tiger fled in terror, thinking it fierce; but little by little it crept closer and provoked the animal, until the donkey, annoyed, could only lash out with a single kick. The tiger then gleefully realized that "its skill ended right there": it pounced, tore out its throat, devoured it, and went on its way.
Source (出处): 柳宗元《三戒·黔之驴》
How is 黔驴技穷 used? Two examples
- 他想了很多办法骗我们，可现在已经黔驴技穷了。
He came up with all kinds of ways to trick us, but by now he's completely run out of tricks.
- 面对这么难的对手，我们队很快就黔驴技穷了。
Up against such a tough opponent, our team soon ran out of every trick it had.
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