不毛之地

Pronunciation: bù máo zhī dì Literal meaning: Land without its covering

Origin & Usage

毛 is the hair of an animal and, by extension, the vegetable covering of the ground. Land (地) without (不) that covering (毛) is bare in a specific way — not merely poor but unable to grow anything. In the Gongyang commentary a defeated Duke of Zheng begs his conqueror to pity him and 锡之不毛之地, grant him some barren ground where he can withdraw with a few old retainers, which is the flavour the phrase keeps: the land nobody else wants. Deserts and wasteland take it literally, and fields of study or markets in which nothing has yet grown take it figuratively.

Examples

English: "The region was once fertile, but now it has become a wasteland."

Chinese: 这个地区曾经肥沃，但现在已变成不毛之地。