手足无措

Pronunciation: shǒu zú wú cuò Literal meaning: Hands and feet without placement

Origin & Usage

Hands (手) and feet (足) with nowhere (无) to be put (措). The Analects supplies the ancestor — 无所措手足, said of people under a government whose rules make ordinary conduct impossible — and the modern phrase keeps the bodily image while narrowing it to a moment. It reports panic from the outside, as a coordination failure anybody watching can see. Somebody caught completely off guard — the near neighbour of 不知所措, which describes the same state from inside the person's head.

Examples

English: "The sudden question left him completely flustered."

Chinese: 这个突如其来的问题让他手足无措。