光脚进蒺藜窝，进退两难光腳進蒺藜窩，進退兩難光腳進蒺藜窩，進退兩難

going barefoot into a patch of caltrops: hard to go forward or back

Saying俗语俗語

Two-part saying歇后语歇後語 · Rarely used now

Meaning: Describes a difficult position where neither advancing nor retreating works. Sympathetic. Compare "between a rock and a hard place".

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Simplified: 光脚进蒺藜窝，进退两难
Traditional (Taiwan): 光腳進蒺藜窩，進退兩難
Pinyin: guāngjiǎo jìn jíli wō, jìntuìliǎngnán
Bopomofo: ㄍㄨㄤㄐㄧㄠˇ ㄐㄧㄣˋ ㄐㄧˊ ˙ㄌㄧㄨㄛ，ㄐㄧㄣˋ ㄊㄨㄟˋ ㄌㄧㄤˇ ㄋㄢˊ

Written with HSK 7-9 vocabulary, at CEFR level C1.

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