too late to regret; irreparable
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 4 examplesidiom
too late to regret; impossible to remedy (lit. unable to bite one's own navel)
literaryFrom 《左传•庄公六年》. The original text used 齐 (qí) for 脐 (navel), with 杜预 commenting that biting one's belly navel is a metaphor for something unreachable. Describes a situation where regret comes too late to fix the problem.
Dāng当
chū初
bù不
tīng听
quàn劝
gào告
，
rú如
jīn今
shì噬
qí脐
mò莫
jí及
。
He didn't listen to advice back then, and now it is too late to regret.
Rú如
guǒ果
nǐ你
xiàn现
zài在
bù不
bǎ把
wò握
jī机
huì会
，
jiāng将
lái来
huì会
shì噬
qí脐
mò莫
jí及
de的
。
If you don't seize the opportunity now, you will regret it later.
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Shì事
dào到
rú如
jīn今
，
shì噬
qí脐
mò莫
jí及
，
wǒ我
men们
zhǐ只
néng能
jìn尽
lì力
bǔ补
jiù救
。
Now that it has come to this, it is too late for regrets; we can only try our best to remedy the situation.
Tā他
yīn因
wéi为
yī一
shí时
tān贪
niàn念
ér而
fàn犯
xià下
dà大
cuò错
，
xiàn现
zài在
shì噬
qí脐
mò莫
jí及
。
He made a terrible mistake because of a moment of greed, and now it is too late to regret.