轍てっ鮒ぷの急きゅう

expression, noun

imminent danger; impending hardship

A classical Chinese-derived idiom (故事成語) meaning a crisis so urgent that there is no time to lose, like a fish in a drying rut. Rare in modern Japanese; mainly encountered in literary or historical contexts.

• 「轍てっ鮒ぷの急きゅう」とは、轍わだちの水みずたまりで苦くるしむ鮒ふなのように、差さし迫せまった危き難なんをいう故こ事じ成せい語ごだ。

  "Tetsupu no kyū" is a classical idiom referring to imminent danger, like a crucian carp struggling in a puddle in a wagon rut.