顧左右而言他

See also: 顾左右而言他

Chinese

FWOTD – 13 August 2019

		look after; take into consideration; to attend to	left and right; left and right sides; both sides	and; as well as; but (not) and; as well as; but (not); yet (not); (shows causal relation); (shows change of state); (shows contrast)	to speak; to say; talk to speak; to say; talk; word	he; him; other
trad. (顧左右而言他)		顧	左右	而	言	他
simp. (顾左右而言他)		顾	左右	而	言	他
Literally: “to look left and right, then talk about something else”.

Etymology

From Mencius (《孟子·梁惠王下》):

曰：「四境之內不治，則如之何？」王顧左右而言他。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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曰：「四境之内不治，则如之何？」王顾左右而言他。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Yuē: “Sìjìng zhī nèi bù zhì, zé rú zhī hé?” Wáng gù zuǒyòu ér yán tā. [Pinyin]

[Mencius] said, "What would you do if your country is not managed well?" The king looked left and right, then started talking about something else.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): gù zuǒyòu ér yán tā

  (Zhuyin): ㄍㄨˋ ㄗㄨㄛˇ ㄧㄡˋ ㄦˊ ㄧㄢˊ ㄊㄚ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gu³ zo² jau⁶ ji⁴ jin⁴ taa¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: gù zuǒyòu ér yán tā
    • Zhuyin: ㄍㄨˋ ㄗㄨㄛˇ ㄧㄡˋ ㄦˊ ㄧㄢˊ ㄊㄚ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: gù zuǒyòu ér yán ta
    • Wade–Giles: ku⁴ tso³-yu⁴ êrh² yen² tʻa¹
    • Yale: gù dzwǒ-yòu ér yán tā
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: guh tzuooyow erl yan ta
    • Palladius: гу цзою эр янь та (gu czoju er janʹ ta)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ku⁵¹ t͡su̯ɔ²¹⁴⁻²¹ joʊ̯⁵¹ ˀɤɻ³⁵ jɛn³⁵ tʰä⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: gu³ zo² jau⁶ ji⁴ jin⁴ taa¹
    • Yale: gu jó yauh yìh yìhn tā
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gu³ dzo² jau⁶ ji⁴ jin⁴ taa¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: gu³ zo² yeo⁶ yi⁴ yin⁴ ta¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kuː³³ t͡sɔː³⁵ jɐu̯²² jiː²¹ jiːn²¹ tʰaː⁵⁵/

Idiom

顧左右而言他

1. to try to change the subject of a conversation; to evade the subject under discussion and talk about other affairs; to steer clear of the crucial point

   • 於是，他用眼角的餘光掃視了一下四周，發現旁邊太監也紛紛向他使眼色，便顧左右而言他，用「人自然是怕鬼」的話敷衍了事。 [MSC, trad.]
     于是，他用眼角的余光扫视了一下四周，发现旁边太监也纷纷向他使眼色，便顾左右而言他，用「人自然是怕鬼」的话敷衍了事。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 2011, 余建明, 《關於地理學的100個故事》 (100 Stories of Geography), page 129

     Yúshì, tā yòng yǎnjiǎo de yúguāng sǎoshì le yīxià sìzhōu, fāxiàn pángbiān tàijiān yě fēnfēn xiàng tā shǐ yǎnsè, biàn gù zuǒyòu ér yán tā, yòng “rén zìrán shì pà guǐ” de huà fūyǎn liǎoshì. [Pinyin]

     Thus, he scanned the surroundings with his peripheral vision and discovered that the eunuch beside him kept winking at him, so he tried to dodge the question and ended the discussion perfunctorily by saying, "People are naturally afraid of ghosts."

Synonyms

• 支吾其詞／支吾其词 (zhīwuqící)