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因噎廢食. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
因噎廢食, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
因噎廢食 in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
因噎廢食 you have here. The definition of the word
因噎廢食 will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
因噎廢食, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Chinese
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cause; reason; because
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choke
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abolish; crippled
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eat; food; to feed eat; food; to feed; animal feed |
| trad. (因噎廢食)
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因
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噎
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廢
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食
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| simp. (因噎废食)
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因
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噎
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废
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食
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| Literally: “to not eat because of choking”.
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Etymology
From Lüshi Chunqiu:
夫有以饐死者，欲禁天下之食，悖；有以乘舟死者，欲禁天下之船，悖；有以用兵喪其國者，欲偃天下之兵，悖。
夫有以𮩞死者，欲禁天下之食，悖；有以乘舟死者，欲禁天下之船，悖；有以用兵丧其国者，欲偃天下之兵，悖。 - From: Lü Buwei, Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals, 239 BCE
- Fú yǒu yǐ yì sǐ zhě, yù jìn tiānxià zhī shí, bèi; yǒu yǐ chéngzhōu sǐ zhě, yù jìn tiānxià zhī chuán, bèi; yǒu yǐ yòngbīng sàng qí guó zhě, yù yǎn tiānxià zhī bīng, bèi.
- It is nonsense to forbid the world’s people to eat just because one person has choked to death when eating; it is nonsense to put the world's boats in disuse just because someone has drowned while sailing; it is also nonsense to eliminate the world's military forces just because one sovereign has lost his state due to his military action.
Note that 饐 / 𮩞 here was a 通假字 (tōngjiǎzì), which, as per Jiyun, had the same meaning and pronunciation as 噎.
Pronunciation
Idiom
因噎廢食
- to avoid something essential because of a slight risk of making a mistake
不能因為死刑可能造成誤判而廢除死刑，這是因噎廢食
不能因为死刑可能造成误判而废除死刑，这是因噎废食 - bùnéng yīnwèi sǐxíng kěnéng zàochéng wùpàn ér fèichú sǐxíng, zhè shì yīnyēfèishí
- The death penalty should not be abolished because of possible miscarriages, this is like not eating for fear of choking
Synonyms