lit. quick sword cuts through tangled hemp (idiom); decisive action in a complex situation; cutting the Gordian knot
trad. 快刀斷亂麻
Also written 快刀斷亂麻【kuài dāo duàn luàn má】
Characters in this word
5快
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0
rapid, quick, speed, rate, soon, almost, to make haste, clever, sharp (of knives or wits), forthright, plainspoken, gratified, pleased, pleasant
- Pinyin
- kuài
- Strokes
- 7
- Frequency
- 102 of 2500
刀
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0
surname Dao
- Pinyin
- Dāo
- Strokes
- 2
- Frequency
- 1717 of 2500
断
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0
to break, to snap, to cut off, to give up or abstain from sth, to judge, (usu. used in the negative) absolutely, definitely, decidedly
- Pinyin
- duàn
- Traditional
- 斷
- Strokes
- 11
- Frequency
- 3778 of 2500
乱
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0
in confusion or disorder, in a confused state of mind, disorder, upheaval, riot, illicit sexual relations, to throw into disorder, to mix up, indiscriminate, random, arbitrary
- Pinyin
- luàn
- Traditional
- 亂
- Strokes
- 7
- Frequency
- 2618 of 2500
麻
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0
hemp (variant of 麻[ma2])
- Pinyin
- má
- Traditional
- 蔴
- Strokes
- 11
- Frequency
- 14175 of 2500