Situations
騎虎之勢
기호지세
qí hǔ zhī shì
Gi-ho-ji-se
騎
말탈 기
虎
범 호
之
갈 지
勢
기세 세
Character by character
Meaning
Riding a tiger — you cannot get off part-way.
Origin
From the Book of Sui, in Lady Dugu’s urging that her husband see the venture through.
How it is used
Used for something already begun that cannot now be abandoned.
Hanja騎虎之勢
Simplified骑虎之势
Korean reading기호지세
Pinyinqí hǔ zhī shì
Frequently asked questions
Q. What does Gi-ho-ji-se mean?
騎虎之勢 · Riding a tiger — you cannot get off part-way.
Q. Where does Gi-ho-ji-se come from?
From the Book of Sui, in Lady Dugu’s urging that her husband see the venture through.
Q. How is Gi-ho-ji-se used?
Used for something already begun that cannot now be abandoned.
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.