p8nda
p8nda BETA
Home Dictionary Translate Flashcards

脉脉不得语

脈脈不得語
mòmò bù dé yǔ
quotation

Meanings

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

Examples

HSK 7-9
盈盈一水间，脉脉不得语，古诗十九首道尽了相思。
Yíngyíngyìshuǐjiān, mòmòbùdéyǔ, 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.
HSK 7-9
两人隔着玻璃相望，真是脉脉不得语。
Liǎng rén gé zhe bōlí xiāng wàng, zhēnshì mòmòbùdéyǔ.
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: 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'. 盈盈一水间 is the inseparable preceding line. Often applied to any speechless-longing scene.

Stroke Order

脉 mài
不 bù
得 de
语 yǔ