Tīngshuō chū le chēhuò, tā húnbù-shǒushè de gǎndào yīyuàn.
Hearing there had been a car accident, she rushed to the hospital out of her wits with worry.
Tips
history
First attested in Pei Songzhi's commentary on the 《三国志·管辂传》 (Records of the Three Kingdoms, biography of the diviner Guan Lu): 魂不守宅 ('the soul does not guard its dwelling'). The diviner reads this in another official's face as a sign of imminent death. From there it broadened to its modern sense of distraction or extreme fright.
memory
舍 (shè, dwelling) here is the body - the 'house' the soul lives in. So 魂不守舍 = 'the soul is not at home,' a vivid picture for absent-mindedness. The idiom has a slightly literary feel; 心不在焉 is the everyday equivalent.
