恍如隔世

Pronunciation: huǎng rú gé shì Literal meaning: Dimly as if separated by lifetimes

Origin & Usage

Vaguely (恍) as if (如) a whole age (世) lay between (隔). 世 is a generation or an era, and Buddhist usage gives it the further sense of a separate lifetime, which is what the phrase borrows. What it describes is not the passing of time but a break in it: the earlier state is not merely distant, it belongs to somebody else. Returning to a city after years away, looking through old photographs, or any change large enough that the person one was no longer joins up with the person one is.

Examples

English: "Returning after twenty years, the changes made him feel as if ages had passed."

Chinese: 二十年后归来，这些变化让他恍如隔世。