焦頭爛額

Chinese

	burnt; scorched; worried burnt; scorched; worried; anxious	head; (noun suffix)	rotten; decayed; well-cooked rotten; decayed; well-cooked; mushy; broken; bad; to decay; completely	volume; amount; quantity volume; amount; quantity; forehead; quota
trad. (焦頭爛額)	焦	頭	爛	額
simp. (焦头烂额)	焦	头	烂	额
alternative forms	燋頭爛額／燋头烂额

焦頭爛額

(literally) to be scorched by the flames
- 今論功而請賓，曲突徙薪亡恩澤，焦頭爛額為上客耶？ [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  今论功而请宾，曲突徙薪亡恩泽，焦头烂额为上客耶？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: The Book of Han, circa 1^st century CE
  Jīn lùn gōng ér qǐng bīn, qūtūxǐxīn wáng ēnzé, jiāotóulàn'é wèi shàngkè yē? [Pinyin]
  Now you are inviting people according to their contributions, then how can you forget the mercy of the person that told you to replace the chimney with a crooked one and move the firewood away, but let those people got burnt seriously be the important guests?"
(figurative) in a sorry plight; hard-pressed; overwrought; in trouble; overwhelmed
為了趕在年底完成這項目，團隊最近是忙得焦頭爛額。 [MSC, trad.]
为了赶在年底完成这项目，团队最近是忙得焦头烂额。 [MSC, simp.]
Wèile gǎn zài niándǐ wánchéng zhè xiàngmù, tuánduì zuìjìn shì máng dé jiāotóulàn'é. [Pinyin]
In order to finish the project before the end of this year, our team has been overwhelmingly busy recently.

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