半途而废
bàn tú ér fèi
to give up halfway
Character by character
半bàn
half
half
途tú
way
way
而ér
and
and
废fèi
give up
give up
Example
学语言最怕半途而废。
The worst thing when learning a language is giving up halfway.
Tone: negative (criticism).
Usage and origin
From the Doctrine of the Mean (《礼记·中庸》, 半涂而废); also tied to Yue Yangzi's wife, who cut her half-woven cloth to shame him for quitting his studies.
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