阴沟里翻船
Traditional form:
陰溝裡翻船
Pinyin (reading):
yīngōulǐfānchuán
Definitions:
- to meet with unexpected failure (idiom)
- to fail miserably (where failure was not expected)
Characters:
- 阴 - the female principle; dark, shaded; hidden, implicit, secret
- 沟 - ditch, drain, gutter, narrow waterway
- 里 - unit of distance equal to 0.5km; village; lane
- 翻 - to upset, to capsize, to flip over
- 船 - ship, boat, vessel
Traditional characters: