“杞人忧天”，“杞”是“古代地名（the name of an ancient state）”，“忧”的意思是“担忧、焦虑（worry）”。“杞人忧天”字面意思是杞国人担心天会塌下来（The man of Qi was afraid that the heavens were about to fall on him），比喻缺乏根据或不必要的担心和忧虑（unnecessary worry，excessive anxiety），与英文俗语“meet trouble half-way”意思相近，表示“to worry, grow anxious, or distress¹ oneself unnecessarily over something that has yet to happen”。

 

例句：

 

你不能杞人忧天的生活，不然会因为优柔寡断和焦虑而崩溃。

You can't go through life meeting trouble halfway², or you'll end up paralyzed with indecision and anxiety.

 

也许明天会更好，我们现在不应该杞人忧天。

Maybe tomorrow will be better. We shouldn't meet trouble halfway now.

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