徒呼负负

徒呼負負
túhū-fùfù
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 to be reduced to crying 'shame on me, shame on me' in vain
  2. 2 to feel powerless and full of regret
  3. 3 to lament one's failure helplessly

Examples

HSK 4
Shì dào rújīn, tā zhǐnéng túhū-fùfù.
Things have come to this - he can only sigh in helpless regret.
HSK 6
Jīhuì cuòguò le, túhū-fùfù yě méiyòng.
The opportunity is gone; lamenting 'shame on me' won't help.

Tips

history
From the 后汉书 biography of 范滂 - the scholar, when wronged and powerless, repeatedly cried 负负 ('I have failed, I have failed') as an admission of defeat. The reduplicated 负负 captures the rhythm of self-recrimination.
register
Highly literary; appears in op-eds and historical commentary, almost never in speech. The everyday equivalent is 无可奈何 or 后悔莫及.

Stroke Order