两败俱伤

兩敗俱傷

liǎngbàijùshāng

idiom #28,937

Meanings

Jìxù zhēngdòu zhǐ huì liǎng bài jù shāng, bùrú gè tuì yī bù.

Continuing to fight will only hurt both sides — better to each take a step back.

Zhè chǎng màoyì zhàn ràng liǎng guó liǎng bài jù shāng.

This trade war left both countries worse off.

memory

两 (two) + 败 (defeat) + 俱 (all/both) + 伤 (injured) — both are defeated and both are injured. A clean four-character summary of a lose-lose situation.

两 liǎng

败 bài

俱 jù

伤 shāng