“杞人忧天”,“杞”是“古代地名(the name of an ancient state)”,“忧”的意思是“担忧、焦虑(worry)”。“杞人忧天”字面意思是杞国人担心天会塌下来(The man of Qi was afraid that the heavens were about to fall on him),比喻缺乏根据或不必要的担心和忧虑(unnecessary worry,excessive anxiety),与英文俗语“meet trouble half-way”意思相近,表示“to worry, grow anxious, or distress oneself unnecessarily over something that has yet to happen”。
- 你不能杞人忧天的生活,不然会因为优柔寡断和焦虑而崩溃。
You can't go through life meeting trouble halfway, or you'll end up paralyzed with indecision and anxiety. - 也许明天会更好,我们现在不应该杞人忧天。
Maybe tomorrow will be better. We shouldn't meet trouble halfway now.