望尘莫及
- Literal
- to gaze at the dust and never catch up
- Figurative
- To lag so far behind someone that catching up is out of the question; usually said in admiration, or to play down your own standing.
Where does 望尘莫及 come from?
The 《后汉书》 tells it in the biography of Zhao Zi. Newly appointed governor of Donghai, he passed through Xingyang on his way there without stopping. The local magistrate, Cao Hao, whom Zhao Zi himself had recommended for office years before, came out to the road to meet him, but Zhao Zi rode straight on. Cao Hao escorted him as far as the next posting station and was left there watching the dust without catching up — 望尘不及 is the wording in the text — and then said that if he let a man of such standing cross his district unseen he would be a laughingstock, so he gave up his post and went after him. The phrase settled out of that scene: 及 means "to reach" and 莫 is the classical negative, which gives it a literary flavor. Today it comes out when comparing someone to a rival far out in front, and in the speaker's own mouth it reads as modesty.
Source (出处): 《后汉书·赵咨传》
How is 望尘莫及 used? Two examples
- 他的中文水平我望尘莫及。
His Chinese is so far ahead of mine that I'll never catch up.
- 他一百米跑出的成绩，我们队里其他人望尘莫及。
He runs the hundred meters in a time the rest of us on the team can't come anywhere near.
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