明日复明日

明日復明日

míngrìfùmíngrì

phrase

Meanings

1 tomorrow after tomorrow
2 the warning against procrastination — if you keep saying 'tomorrow,' tomorrow never comes

Míngrì fù míngrì, míngrì héqí duō — bié zài tuō le.

Tomorrow after tomorrow, how many tomorrows are there — stop putting it off.

Tā zǒng shuō míngtiān jiù jiǎnféi, zhēnshi míngrì fù míngrì.

He always says he'll start dieting tomorrow — truly 'tomorrow after tomorrow.'

history

From 《明日歌》 by 钱鹤滩 (Qian Hetan, Ming dynasty): '明日复明日，明日何其多！我生待明日，万事成蹉跎。' A canonical school-text poem warning kids against procrastination.

usage

复 (fù) here = 'again / repeatedly,' the classical sense. So 明日复明日 literally = 'tomorrow and again tomorrow.'

明 míng

日 rì

复 fù