趋之若鹜
qū zhī ruò wù
to flock to something like ducks; to rush after a fad
Character by character
趋qū
rush
rush
之zhī
towards it
towards it
若ruò
like
like
鹜wù
ducks
ducks
Example
一听说这种股票能赚大钱，不少人趋之若鹜，结果亏得一塌糊涂。
Hearing that the shares could make them rich, crowds rushed to buy, and ended up losing heavily.
Tone: negative (criticism).
Usage and origin
鹜 is a duck, and people rushing after the same thing look like a flock of ducks making for food. It is disapproving: it mocks a herd chasing fashion, profit or power. Do not confuse 鹜 (duck) with 骛 wù, “to gallop”, in 好高骛远.
Learn this in Lesson 232 · HSK 9+: 超级女声 (Super Girl: the show that taught China to vote)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. This lesson is free.
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