那四个老皮（老家伙） 那土都快埋到脖子上了
“Those four old men have already got one foot in the grave.”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
还没完
“It's not over?”
那四个 老皮 （ 老家伙 ） 那 土都快埋到脖子上了
“Those four old men have already got one foot in the grave.”
“They are ancient and on their way out, so why are we wasting our time accommodating them?”
While Chinese culture traditionally demands utmost respect for seniority, this idiom crudely subverts filial piety to justify dismissing elderly authorities in modern or pragmatic disputes.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
having one foot in the grave; extremely old and near death
A highly colorful, colloquial, and often disparaging northern Chinese idiom to emphasize someone's extreme age.
Indicates a newly realized or imminent state, emphasizing that their old age has already reached an extreme threshold.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“Those four old guys”
“Yanwen must have learned from Yanyun”
“Laosi's going out”
“We're old folks, not far from the Four Olds.”
“You country bumpkins. Haven't you been to the county town? They've had these for ages.”
“That old man gave in immediately.”