呉越同舟

Japanese

Kanji in this term
呉	越	同	舟
ご Grade: S	えつ Grade: S	どう Grade: 2	しゅう Grade: S
kan’on		kan’yōon	kan’on

Alternative spelling
吳越同舟 (kyūjitai)

Etymology

From chapter 11 of The Art of War, by Sun Tzu. 呉越 (“Wu and Yue”, two ancient rival Chinese states) +‎ 同舟 (“same boat”).

Noun

呉(ご)越(えつ)同(どう)舟(しゅう) • (Goetsu dōshū) 

1. that bitter enemies chance on each other and have to work together