羊头钻进篱笆里,伸首容易缩首难羊頭鑽進籬笆里,伸首容易縮首難羊頭鑽進籬笆里,伸首容易縮首難

a sheep's head pushed into a hedge: easy to stick out the head (hand), hard to pull it back

Saying俗语俗語

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

Meaning: Once you get involved in something, it is hard to get out again.
Wordplay: 首 (shǒu, head) is written for 手 (shǒu, hand); 伸手 means both stretching out a hand and getting involved in something.

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Simplified: 羊头钻进篱笆里,伸首容易缩首难
Traditional (Taiwan): 羊頭鑽進籬笆里,伸首容易縮首難
Pinyin: yángtóu zuānjìn líba lǐ,shēn shǒu róngyì suō shǒu nàn
Bopomofo: ㄧㄤˊ ㄊㄡˊ ㄗㄨㄢㄐㄧㄣˋ ㄌㄧˊ ˙ㄅㄚㄌㄧˇ,ㄕㄣㄕㄡˇ ㄖㄨㄥˊ ㄧˋ ㄙㄨㄛㄕㄡˇ ㄋㄢˋ

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

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