Jan 20
成语：行尸走肉
发音：xíng shī zǒu ròu
解释：行尸：可以走动的尸体；走肉：会走动而没有灵魂的躯壳。
比喻不动脑筋，不起作用，糊里糊涂过日子的人。
A quite figurative chengyu if you tend to watch horror films. 尸 like in 尸体 is a dead body/ corpse. 肉 is flesh and means that there is no soul and no feelings in this context. 行 and 走 both mean walk. So literally it means “walking corpse and flesh”. Basically it means that the person walks around and behaves like a death man, because he feels so numb. This can be after a huge shock, or because he is depressed or sick or heart-broken. If it’s over a longer period, it describes a very confused unsocial and passive person who is just sick and tired of life.
For example:
- 他女朋友刚和他分手，你瞧他现在那副行尸走肉的样子，真可怜。
His girlfriend just broke up with hum, now look at him, he is like a walking corpse. So pitiful! - 自从没有考上理想的大学以后，他整天就如同行尸走肉。
Since he has failed to enter the university he wanted to, he behaves like a walking corpse.