一头雾水
- Literal
- a whole head of fog water
- Figurative
- To be completely lost, unable to make sense of what is being explained or what is going on; it describes the confused person, not an odd situation.
Where does 一头雾水 come from?
It does not come from an anecdote; it is a modern colloquial expression, usually traced to Cantonese, with no known classical text behind it. Here 一头 means "the whole head," and 雾水 is fog water, the damp that settles in the hair of someone walking through mist. The picture is of a person soaked in fog who cannot see clearly what is in front of them. It usually follows verbs such as 听得, 看得 or 搞得, and unlike 莫名其妙, which calls something inexplicable, it describes the confusion of the listener or reader, even when the matter itself is simple.
How is 一头雾水 used? Two examples
- 老师讲得很清楚，是我自己没预习，才听得一头雾水。
The teacher explained it perfectly clearly; I was the one who hadn't done the reading, which is why I was completely lost.
- 新系统的说明书写得太乱，大家看完都一头雾水。
The manual for the new system is so badly written that everyone finished reading it none the wiser.
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