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百思不得其解

bǎisībùdéqíjiě
idiom #41,932

Meanings

  1. 1 to think it over a hundred times without arriving at an answer
  2. 2 to be completely baffled
  3. 3 to fail to make sense of something

Examples

他为什么突然辞职，大家百思不得其解。
Tā wèishénme tūrán cízhí, dàjiā bǎi sī bù dé qí jiě.
Why he suddenly quit is a mystery no one can figure out.
这道题我百思不得其解。
Zhè dào tí wǒ bǎi sī bù dé qí jiě.
No matter how I think about this problem, I can't solve it.
她的反应让我百思不得其解。
Tā de fǎnyìng ràng wǒ bǎi sī bù dé qí jiě.
I can't for the life of me make sense of her reaction.

Tips

history
Recorded in Qing scholar Ji Yun's 《阅微草堂笔记》 (vol. 13) as '百思不得其故' ('a hundred thoughts and still not the reason'). The modern form swaps 故 for 解 but keeps the sense: repeated pondering to no avail.
usage
Six-character idiom (unusually long). 百 is hyperbolic ('a hundred' = many times). Often follows a question or puzzling fact to mark the speaker's frustration.

Stroke Order

百 bǎi
思 sī
不 bù
得 dé
其 qí
解 jiě