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老死不相往来

老死不相往來
lǎosǐbùxiāngwǎnglái
idiom #68,805

Meanings

  1. 1 to grow old and die without ever visiting one another
  2. 2 to have no contact for a lifetime / to be completely estranged

Examples

两家因为一次争吵，老死不相往来。
Liǎng jiā yīnwèi yī cì zhēngchǎo, lǎo sǐ bù xiāng wǎng lái.
Over a single quarrel, the two families never spoke again for the rest of their lives.
他们曾经是好朋友，如今却老死不相往来。
Tāmen céngjīng shì hǎo péngyǒu, rújīn què lǎo sǐ bù xiāng wǎng lái.
They used to be best friends, but now they never see each other.

Tips

history
From the 《道德经》 (Laozi, chapter 80), describing the Daoist small-state utopia: 邻国相望，鸡犬之声相闻，民至老死不相往来 — 'Neighboring states are in sight of one another, their cocks and dogs are within earshot, yet their people grow old and die without ever visiting.' Originally positive (self-sufficient contentment); now nearly always negative (hostile estrangement).
usage
In modern Chinese this phrase almost always carries a negative tone — a severed relationship between people, families, or countries. The original Daoist positive sense is effectively lost in everyday speech.

Stroke Order

老 lǎo
死 sǐ
不 bù
相 xiāng
往 wǎng
来 lái