上够不着天...

[Marqueurindélibile]

Hello,

I try to understand this sentence in an article.

文化大革命开始时，我刚从小学毕业。中学不收人了，我和我的同学们成了 半吊子， 上够不着天，下踩不着地。

谢谢

 

[kategogogo]

文化大革命开始时，我刚从小学毕业。中学不收人了，我和我的同学们成了半吊子， 上够不着天，下踩不着地。

Welcome to 中文+方言.

This idiom means "in a state of limbo". You're in a precarious or uncertain situation where you've completed one phase (小学毕业了), but haven't yet made it into the next (中学不收人了, schools were all shut down during the cultural revolution), leaving you in a "in-between" state, hanging halfway between the sky and the ground, unable to reach the sky above or touch the ground below.

 

[Marqueurindélibile]

Is it from Han Feizi but without 够and踩 ? Why the writer had 够and踩?

 

[kategogogo]

Is it from Han Feizi but without 够and踩 ? Why the writer had 够and踩?

够 is to reach for something, putting your arm out and trying to grab it. 踩 is to tread, to place your feet on the ground (踩地). Both verbs can be left out in spoken Mandarin. I did hear people simplify it into "上不着天，下不着地。". The omission doesn't change the meaning.

 

[SuperXW]

Is it from Han Feizi but without 够and踩 ?

上不着天，下不着地 is a common idiom that has been explained by kate.
I've only check the dictionary and found its connection with Han Feizi 《韩非子·解老》：“上不属天，而下不著地。”
The ancient text may have its original meaning, but the modern idiom has been separated from that. Few people knows the old text.