遊刃有餘

See also: 游刃有余 and 游刃有餘

Chinese

to roam; travel edge of blade
to have an abundance; odd; about
to have an abundance; odd; about; or so
 
trad. (遊刃有餘/游刃有餘) 遊/游 刃 有餘
simp. (游刃有余) 游 刃 有余

Etymology

From Zhuangzi.

今臣之刀十九年矣，所解數千牛矣，而刀刃若新发于硎。彼節者有間，而刀刃者無厚；以無厚入有間，恢恢乎其於遊刃必有餘地矣，是以十九年而刀刃若新發於硎。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
今臣之刀十九年矣，所解数千牛矣，而刀刃若新发于硎。彼节者有间，而刀刃者无厚；以无厚入有间，恢恢乎其于游刃必有余地矣，是以十九年而刀刃若新发于硎。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: Zhuangzi, circa 3rd – 2nd centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
Jīn chén zhī dāo shíjiǔ nián yǐ, suǒ jiě shù qiān niú yǐ, ér dāorèn ruò xīn fā yú xíng. Bǐ jié zhě yǒu jiān, ér dāorèn zhě wú hòu; yǐ wú hòu rù yǒu jiān, huīhuī hū qí yú yóu rèn bì yǒu yúdì yǐ, shì yǐ shíjiǔ nián ér dāorèn ruò xīn fā yú xíng. [Pinyin]
Now my knife has been in use for nineteen years; it has cut up several thousand oxen, and yet its edge is as sharp as if it had newly come from the whetstone. There are the interstices of the joints, and the edge of the knife not thick; when that which is so thin enters where the interstice is, how easily it moves along! The blade has more than room enough.

Pronunciation

Idiom

遊刃有餘

  1. to handle a blade skillfully; to do a task with skills and ease; to achieve something effortlessly
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