左也不是 右也不是
“Neither this nor that.”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
臣也不是这个意思
“That's not what I meant either.”
左 也不是 右 也不是
“Neither this nor that.”
“Then how exactly did today's incident happen?”
“Whatever you claim contradicts something else; stop making excuses and tell the truth.”
Using parallel phrasing like '左也不是，右也不是' highlights the absolute absurdity or impossibility of the opponent's position.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
damned if you do, damned if you don't; nothing seems right
A common colloquial pattern used to describe a catch-22 situation or exasperation with conflicting excuses.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“neither of them is left-handed.”
“I'm between a rock and a hard place now.”
“And what if it isn't? If it isn't, good.”
“Yes and no.”
“It's not that. It's not that? Stop making excuses.”
“-No! That's not true! -Of course it's him. You're blushing. No, I'm not.”