我们现在自己都是自身难保
“We're in big trouble ourselves.”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
如果他真的有困难的话 我们会帮他吗
“if he's in trouble, will we help him?”
我们现在 自己 都是 自身难保
“We're in big trouble ourselves.”
他多少还是有点钱的
“He still has some money.”
“Don't even think about helping him; we are struggling just to survive.”
Chinese interpersonal norms emphasize mutual assistance, but invoking total inability to fend for oneself is an unassailable justification for withholding help without losing face.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
unable to fend for oneself; barely surviving
A vivid four-character idiom frequently used in colloquial speech to decline requests for help when facing one's own crisis.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“We're in a tough spot right now.”
“He... He can barely save himself now.”
“he might be hard-pressed to save himself.”
“We listed out all our difficulties”
“I'm in enough trouble as it is. Why get involved in someone else's business?”
“In these times, it's hard enough to protect oneself.”
“With troubles both within and without,”
“because I could barely protect myself”
“We are already in grave danger.”
“in danger during the Jingang Operation,”
“Come look. Our nation is in crisis, we must take action. That's right.”
“Big or small, every platform is barely staying afloat.”
“For now, we can only rely on ourselves.”
“is in grave danger.”
“They can protect themselves. The tricky one is here with us.”