争先恐后
- Literal
- to fight to be first and fear being last
- Figurative
- To rush in all at once, everyone scrambling to be first and afraid of being left behind, whether out of eagerness or sheer jostling.
Where does 争先恐后 come from?
We know of no specific anecdote behind it: this is a four-character formula whose two halves answer each other. 争先, "to fight to be first," and 恐后, "to fear being last," express the same haste from the side of desire and from the side of fear. Today it serves both to praise a group's eagerness — hands shooting up in class, people volunteering to help — and to describe an ungainly scramble.
How is 争先恐后 used? Two examples
- 学生们争先恐后地举手回答问题。
The students all shot their hands up, each eager to be the one to answer.
- 门一开，大家就争先恐后地往里挤。
The moment the door opened, everyone shoved their way in, nobody wanting to be last.
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