- lit. the fish and the bear's paw, you can't have both at the same time (idiom, from Mencius); fig. you must choose one or the other
- you can't always get everything you want
- you can't have your cake and eat it
Characters
- 鱼 (魚): surname Yu
- 与 (與): variant of 歟|欤[yu2]
- 熊 (熊): surname Xiong
- 掌 (掌): palm of the hand; sole of the foot; paw; horseshoe; to slap; to hold in one's hand; to wield
Resources
- Wiktionary: 鱼与熊掌
- MDBG: 鱼与熊掌
- Examples with 鱼与熊掌 on Tatoeba
Examples
鱼与熊掌不可兼得。