泥菩萨过不了江
“Mud Buddha can't cross the river.”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
因为
“It's because”
泥菩萨过不了江
“Mud Buddha can't cross the river.”
“I'm in deep trouble myself, so don't expect any help from me.”
Chinese speakers often rely on folk proverbs like 'clay Bodhisattva crossing the river' to decline requests gracefully without appearing selfish.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
a clay idol crossing a river; barely able to save oneself, let alone help others
A highly versatile Chinese allegorical saying (xiehouyu) used to express that one is too overwhelmed by their own difficulties to offer aid.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“You won't.”
“I only have one leg, how can I cross the river?”
“turn the corner to the main road. Then follow the river upstream.”
“How else do you cross the river without a boat?”
“you want me to pull Jiang Daohai back once more.”
“You really don’t know how to manage your money.”