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
  1. 1 see 上聲|上声[shǎng shēng]
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
小时
xiǎo shí
  1. 1 hour
  2. 2 CL:個|个[gè]
晚上
wǎn shang
  1. 1 evening
  2. 2 night
  3. 3 CL:個|个[gè]
  4. 4 in the evening
有
yǒu
  1. 1 to have
  2. 2 there is
  3. 3 there are
  4. 4 to exist
  5. 5 to be
没有
méi yǒu
  1. 1 haven't
  2. 2 hasn't
  3. 3 doesn't exist
  4. 4 to not have
  5. 5 to not be
老
lǎo
  1. 1 prefix used before the surname of a person or a numeral indicating the order of birth of the children in a family or to indicate affection or familiarity
  2. 2 old (of people)
  3. 3 venerable (person)
  4. 4 experienced
  5. 5 of long standing
  6. 6 always
  7. 7 all the time
  8. 8 of the past
  9. 9 very
  10. 10 outdated
  11. 11 (of meat etc) tough
一下子
yī xià zi
  1. 1 in a short while
  2. 2 all at once
  3. 3 all of a sudden
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
上下
shàng xià
  1. 1 up and down
  2. 2 top and bottom
  3. 3 old and new
  4. 4 length
  5. 5 about
上来
shàng lái
  1. 1 to come up
  2. 2 to approach
  3. 3 (verb complement indicating success)
上传
shàng chuán
  1. 1 to upload
上午
shàng wǔ
  1. 1 morning
  2. 2 CL:個|个[gè]
上去
shàng qù
  1. 1 to go up
上司
shàng si
  1. 1 boss
  2. 2 superior
上场
shàng chǎng
  1. 1 on stage
  2. 2 to go on stage
  3. 3 to take the field
上天
shàng tiān
  1. 1 Heaven
  2. 2 Providence
  3. 3 God
  4. 4 the day before
  5. 5 the sky above
  6. 6 to fly to the sky
  7. 7 to take off and fly into space
  8. 8 to die
  9. 9 to pass away

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
三下两下
sān xià liǎng xià
  1. 1 quickly and effortlessly (idiom)
三人行，必有我师
sān rén xíng , bì yǒu wǒ shī
  1. 1 lit. if three walk together, one can be my teacher (idiom, from the Analects of Confucius)
  2. 2 you have sth to learn from everyone
三天不打，上房揭瓦
sān tiān bù dǎ , shàng fáng jiē wǎ
  1. 1 three days without a beating, and a child will scale the roof to rip the tiles (idiom)
  2. 2 spare the rod, spoil the child
三生有幸
sān shēng yǒu xìng
  1. 1 the blessing of three lifetimes (idiom)
  2. 2 (courteous language) it's my good fortune...
上一次当，学一次乖
shàng yī cì dàng , xué yī cì guāi
  1. 1 to take sth as a lesson for next time (idiom)
  2. 2 once bitten, twice shy
上下其手
shàng xià qí shǒu
  1. 1 to raise and lower one's hand (idiom); to signal as conspiratorial hint
  2. 2 fig. conspiring to defraud
上不了台面
shàng bù liǎo tái miàn
  1. 1 better kept under the table (idiom)
  2. 2 not to be disclosed
  3. 3 too inferior to show in public
上不得台盘
shàng bù dé tái pán
  1. 1 too uncouth to appear in public (idiom)
  2. 2 unfit for a public role
上天入地
shàng tiān rù dì
  1. 1 lit. to go up to heaven or down to Hades (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to go to great lengths
  3. 3 to search heaven and earth
上天无路，入地无门
shàng tiān wú lù , rù dì wú mén
  1. 1 lit. there is no road to the sky, nor door into the earth (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to be at the end of one's rope
  3. 3 to be trapped in a hopeless situation
上有天堂，下有苏杭
shàng yǒu tiān táng , xià yǒu Sū Háng
  1. 1 lit. there is heaven above, and there is 蘇杭|苏杭[Sū Háng] below (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. the beauty and affluence of Suzhou and Hangzhou is comparable with heaven
上有政策，下有对策
shàng yǒu zhèng cè , xià yǒu duì cè
  1. 1 The higher ups have policies while the lower downs have their own ways of getting around them. (idiom)
上有老下有小
shàng yǒu lǎo xià yǒu xiǎo
  1. 1 lit. above are the elderly, below are the young (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to have to take care of both one's aging parents and one's children
  3. 3 sandwich generation
上梁不正下梁歪
shàng liáng bù zhèng xià liáng wāi
  1. 1 lit. If the upper beam is not straight, the lower beam will be crooked (idiom); fig. subordinates imitate their superiors' vices
上气不接下气
shàng qì bù jiē xià qì
  1. 1 out of breath (idiom)
  2. 2 to gasp for air

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 ？
Go to Lesson