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脉脉不得语

脈脈不得語
mòmòbùdéyǔ
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 they gaze tenderly but cannot speak
  2. 2 (fig.) the silent, love-laden gaze of the Weaver Girl and Cowherd across the Milky Way
  3. 3 (lit.) gazing-tenderly not-able speak

Examples

盈盈一水间，脉脉不得语，古诗十九首道尽了相思。
Yíngyíng yī shuǐ jiān, mòmò bù dé yǔ, Gǔshī Shíjiǔ Shǒu dào jìn le xiāngsī.
'A single limpid stream between them, tender gazes but no words' — the Nineteen Old Poems say everything about longing.
两人隔着玻璃相望，真是脉脉不得语。
Liǎng rén gézhe bōlí xiāng wàng, zhēn shì mòmò bù dé yǔ.
Facing each other through the glass — truly 'gazing tenderly, unable to speak.'

Tips

history
From 《古诗十九首·迢迢牵牛星》(Nineteen Old Poems, 'Far Far the Cowherd Star,' Eastern Han, ~2nd c. CE), on the Cowherd (牵牛) and Weaver (织女) myth: 迢迢牵牛星，皎皎河汉女... 河汉清且浅，相去复几许？盈盈一水间，脉脉不得语 (Far, far the Cowherd star; bright, bright the Maiden of the River of Heaven... The Milky Way is clear and shallow — how far apart are they? Just one limpid stream between them — tender gazes, but they cannot speak). The earliest poetic crystallization of the Qixi legend.
usage
IMPORTANT: 脉脉 here is read mòmò (NOT mài), a reduplication meaning 'silently gazing with feeling.' CC-CEDICT confirms the reading mò. 盈盈一水间 is the inseparable preceding line. Often applied to any speechless-longing scene.

Stroke Order

脉 mài
不 bù
得 dé
语 yǔ