呉ご牛ぎゅう月つきに喘あえぐ

expression, godan verb (-gu)

be overanxious; worry needlessly

A literary idiom from a Chinese story about a water buffalo from Wu that mistook the moon for the sun and panted from imagined heat. Used to describe someone who is excessively fearful or anxious without real cause. Rare in modern conversation; mostly encountered in classical or literary contexts.

• 彼かれは失しっ敗ぱいを恐おそれて呉ご牛ぎゅう月つきに喘あえぐような状じょう態たいだ。

  He is so afraid of failure that he's like the Wu buffalo panting at the moon—worrying needlessly.