上有老下有小
shàng yǒu lǎo xià yǒu xiǎo
Pinyin

Definition

上有老下有小
 - 
shàng yǒu lǎo xià yǒu xiǎo
  1. lit. above are the elderly, below are the young (idiom)
  2. fig. to have to take care of both one's aging parents and one's children
  3. sandwich generation

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

一下
yī xià
  1. 1 (used after a verb) give it a go
  2. 2 to do (sth for a bit to give it a try)
  3. 3 one time
  4. 4 once
  5. 5 in a while
  6. 6 all of a sudden
  7. 7 all at once
上
shǎng
下
xià
  1. 1 down
  2. 2 downwards
  3. 3 below
  4. 4 lower
  5. 5 later
  6. 6 next (week etc)
  7. 7 second (of two parts)
  8. 8 to decline
  9. 9 to go down
  10. 10 to arrive at (a decision, conclusion etc)
  11. 11 measure word to show the frequency of an action
下载
xià zǎi
  1. 1 to download
  2. 2 also pr. [xià zài]
小
xiǎo
  1. 1 small
  2. 2 tiny
  3. 3 few
  4. 4 young

Idioms (20)

一哭二闹三上吊
yī kū èr nào sān shàng diào
  1. 1 to make a terrible scene (idiom)
  2. 2 to throw a tantrum
一条绳上的蚂蚱
yī tiáo shéng shàng de mà zha
  1. 1 lit. grasshoppers tied together with a piece of string (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. people who are in it together for better or worse
  3. 3 people who will sink or swim together
一无所有
yī wú suǒ yǒu
  1. 1 not having anything at all (idiom); utterly lacking
  2. 2 without two sticks to rub together
一粒老鼠屎坏了一锅粥
yī lì lǎo shǔ shǐ huài le yī guō zhōu
  1. 1 lit. a piece of rat feces spoiled the whole pot of congee (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch
一颗老鼠屎坏了一锅汤
yī kē lǎo shǔ shǐ huài le yī guō tāng
  1. 1 lit. a piece of rat feces spoiled the whole pot of soup (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch

Sample Sentences

生活所迫吧。做农活赚不了几个钱。家里上有老下有小，小的要读书，老的要看病，都需要钱。没办法啊！后来我们就想在家门口开个小饭店吧。我那口子做的菜在我们村是最好吃的。
shēnghuósuǒpò ba 。zuò nónghuó zhuànbùliǎo jǐ ge qián 。jiālǐ shàngyǒulǎoxiàyǒuxiǎo ，xiǎode yào dúshū ，lǎode yào kànbìng ，dōu xūyào qián 。méi bànfǎ a ！hòulái wǒmen jiù xiǎng zài jiā ménkǒu kāi gè xiǎo fàndiàn ba 。wǒ nàkǒuzi zuò de cài zài wǒmen cūn shì zuì hǎochī de 。
Life makes one do all kinds of things, right? Farming the land, one can't earn a lot of money. The family has both old and young people. The young folks need to study and the old folks need to go to the doctor. All of this requires money. There was no choice! The result was that we wanted to open up a small restaurant outside our door. The food my wife makes is the tastiest in our village.
Go to Lesson 
如果过夜，肯定住宾馆。我们一家上有老下有小，露营，还是算了。
rúguǒ guòyè ，kěndìng zhù bīnguǎn 。wǒmen yī jiā shàngyǒulǎo xiàyǒuxiǎo ，lùyíng ，háishì suànle 。
If we spend the night, we definitely stay in a hotel. We've got a kid and grandparents in our family, so we can forget about camping.
Go to Lesson 
还有一些老三届的中年人也很辛苦。他们很多都是做底层工作的，而且还上有老下有小。一个月拿几百块钱，还不是勒紧裤腰带过日子？
hái yǒu yīxiē lǎosānjiè de zhōngnián rén yě hěn xīnkǔ 。tāmen hěn duō dōu shì zuò dǐcéng gōngzuò de ，érqiě hái shàngyǒulǎoxiàyǒuxiǎo 。yī ge yuè ná jǐ bǎi kuài qián ，hái bù shì lēijǐn kùyāodài guòrìzi ？
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