风声鹤唳
- Literal
- the whistle of the wind and the cry of the cranes
- Figurative
- A state of extreme panic in which every sound or sign is mistaken for an approaching threat; so jittery that one sees danger everywhere.
Where does 风声鹤唳 come from?
In the year 383, during the Battle of the Fei River, the warlord Fú Jiān of the state of Qin hurled a vast army against the much smaller Eastern Jin dynasty. After an initial defeat, the Qin troops broke ranks and fled in utter disorder. Terrified, the fleeing soldiers heard their pursuers in every faint noise: even the whistle of the wind and the cries of the cranes sounded to them like the shouts of the enemy at their heels. That runaway panic turned a defeat into a catastrophe and gave rise to the idiom.
Source (出处): 《晋书·谢玄传》
How is 风声鹤唳 used? Two examples
- 公司刚裁了员，大家整天风声鹤唳，谁也不敢请假。
The company just did layoffs, and everyone is on edge all day long; no one dares to ask for a day off.
- 听说小区里进了小偷，邻居们风声鹤唳，晚上都把门锁得紧紧的。
Word that a thief had gotten into the neighborhood left everyone so jittery that at night they locked their doors up tight.
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