Situations
漁父之利
어부지리
yú fù zhī lì
Eo-bu-ji-ri
漁
고기잡을 어
父
아비 부
之
갈 지
利
이로울 리
Character by character
Meaning
The fisherman’s gain — a third party profits while two fight.
Origin
From the Strategies of the Warring States: a clam and a snipe locked in struggle are both taken by a fisherman.
How it is used
Used when a third company takes the market while two rivals fight.
Hanja漁父之利
Simplified渔父之利
Korean reading어부지리
Pinyinyú fù zhī lì
Frequently asked questions
Q. What does Eo-bu-ji-ri mean?
漁父之利 · The fisherman’s gain — a third party profits while two fight.
Q. Where does Eo-bu-ji-ri come from?
From the Strategies of the Warring States: a clam and a snipe locked in struggle are both taken by a fisherman.
Q. How is Eo-bu-ji-ri used?
Used when a third company takes the market while two rivals fight.
Idioms in the same group
四面楚歌 Sa-myeon-cho-gaChu songs on all four sides — surrounded with nowhere to turn.進退兩難 Jin-toe-yang-nanHard to advance and hard to retreat.累卵之危 Nu-ran-ji-wiAs precarious as a stack of eggs.風前燈火 Pung-jeon-deung-hwaA lamp flame before the wind — an extremely precarious state.五里霧中 O-ri-mu-jungInside a fog five li deep — completely unable to make sense of things.雪上加霜 Seol-sang-ga-sangFrost on top of snow — one misfortune stacked on another.
The idioms used in Korea mix phrases from the Chinese classics with ones coined in Korea. Where an expression is not used in China, the entry says so.