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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

HSK 4
他们曾经是好朋友，如今却老死不相往来。
Tāmen céngjīng shì hǎo péngyǒu, rújīn què lǎosǐbùxiāngwǎnglái.
They used to be best friends, but now they never see each other.
HSK 7-9
两家因为一次争吵，老死不相往来。
Liǎng jiā yīnwèi yī cì zhēngchǎo, lǎosǐbùxiāngwǎnglái.
Over a single quarrel, the two families never spoke again for the rest of their lives.

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