Su-seo-yang-dan

首

머리 수

鼠

쥐 서

兩

두 량

端

끝 단

Character by character

Meaning

A rat poking its head out and eyeing both ways — hesitating instead of deciding.

Origin

From the Records of the Grand Historian, describing a minister who would not take either side before Emperor Wu.

How it is used

Used to needle someone who keeps putting the choice off.

Hanja首鼠兩端

Simplified首鼠两端

Korean reading수서양단

Pinyinshǒu shǔ liǎng duān

Frequently asked questions

Q. What does Su-seo-yang-dan mean?

首鼠兩端 · A rat poking its head out and eyeing both ways — hesitating instead of deciding.

Q. Where does Su-seo-yang-dan come from?

From the Records of the Grand Historian, describing a minister who would not take either side before Emperor Wu.

Q. How is Su-seo-yang-dan used?

Used to needle someone who keeps putting the choice off.

Idioms in the same group

有備無患 Yu-bi-mu-hwanIf you prepare in advance, there is nothing to worry about.易地思之 Yeok-ji-sa-jiThink about it after swapping places with the other person.初志一貫 Cho-ji-il-gwanCarry the resolve you started with all the way through, unchanged.名不虛傳 Myeong-bul-heo-jeonThe reputation was not passed on in vain — it lives up to the name.靑出於藍 Cheong-chul-eo-ramThe blue drawn from the indigo plant is bluer than the plant — the student surpasses the teacher.大器晩成 Dae-gi-man-seongA great vessel takes long to finish — those destined for greatness succeed late.

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.