歧路亡羊
歧路亡羊 (qí lù wáng yáng) literally means “the sheep lost among the forking roads” and expresses “too many choices lead nowhere”. This idiom is used when describing situations involving wisdom and learning.
Also searched as: qi lu wang yang, qi lu wang yang,歧路亡羊 meaning, 歧路亡羊 in english
Too many choices lead nowhere
Pronunciation: qí lù wáng yáng Literal meaning: The sheep lost among the forking roads
Origin & Usage
In 《列子·说符》 a neighbour of Yang Zhu loses (亡) a sheep (羊) and sets out with a crowd to find it. They return empty-handed: the road (路) forked (歧), and forked again, and beyond each fork lay more forks than they could follow. Yang Zhu goes quiet for a long while and does not smile for the rest of the day. The story is not about a sheep. It is about how a search dissolves when the paths multiply faster than attention can divide, and it is one of the sharpest things classical Chinese thought has to say about scattered effort — an argument that too many directions is functionally the same as no direction at all.
Examples
English: "With six competing strategies on the table, the team lost the thing it was chasing."
Chinese: 方向太多，反而歧路亡羊。
Related Chinese Idioms
Similar idioms about wisdom & learning
亡羊补牢
wáng yáng bǔ láo
Never too late to fix
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亡羊得牛
wáng yáng dé niú
A small loss that yields a greater gain
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羚羊挂角
líng yáng guà jiǎo
Artistry that leaves no trace
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羊质虎皮
yáng zhì hǔ pí
Imposing outside, timid within
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虎入羊群
hǔ rù yáng qún
Unstoppable force against the defenceless
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羊肠小道
yáng cháng xiǎo dào
A narrow, winding, difficult road
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挂羊头卖狗肉
guà yáng tóu mài gǒu ròu
Advertise one thing and deliver another
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顺手牵羊
shùn shǒu qiān yáng
Exploit small opportunities
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does 歧路亡羊 mean in English?
歧路亡羊 (qí lù wáng yáng) literally translates to “The sheep lost among the forking roads” and is used to express “Too many choices lead nowhere”. This Chinese idiom belongs to the Wisdom & Learning category.
When is 歧路亡羊 used?
Situation: With six competing strategies on the table, the team lost the thing it was chasing.
What is the pinyin for 歧路亡羊?
The pinyin pronunciation for 歧路亡羊 is “qí lù wáng yáng”.
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