鷸いつ蚌ぼう

noun

snipe and clam; snipe and mussel

Literary term from the Chinese fable 'The Snipe and the Clam'; used almost exclusively in the set phrase 鷸蚌の争い (the quarrel of the snipe and the clam), meaning a dispute where both sides lose to a third party.

See also: 鷸蚌の争い

• 「鷸いつ蚌ぼうの争あらそい」ということわざは、二に者しゃが争あらそっている間あいだに第だい三さん者しゃが利り益えきを得えることを戒いましめている。

  The proverb 'the quarrel of the snipe and the clam' warns that while two parties fight, a third may profit.