The word 由己 ?

[HashiriKata]

What does 由己 mean? Can't find it in my (basic) dictionaries nor in some online dictionaries. Is it a contraction of something longer? I was trying to translate the following but not sure of 由己 in the first line:

青春的岁月 我们身不由己

只因这胸中 燃烧的梦想

Thanks,

HK

[Quest]

try "身不由己 " in your dictionary.

[skylee]

It is not 由己, but 身不由己.

我們身不由己 -> we cannot help/control ourselves

[HashiriKata]

Thank you!

There're more pitfalls in Chinese than I previously thought!

[HSC]

So if you are pestering someone in a joking way and then s/he says "stop it!" and you want to reply "Sorry! I just can't help (doing) it." can you say:

我身不由己？

What about: “我不得不。”？

Also, please comment on the usage of the following:

情不自禁

不能自制

[seagate]

So if you are pestering someone in a joking way and then s/he says "stop it!" and you want to reply "Sorry! I just can't help (doing) it." can you say:

我身不由己？

身不由己 is not a proper word for here. You can say:

对不起， 可我就是忍不住。

What about: “我不得不。”？

我不得不 means "I have to"

I was wondering if the idiom 身不由己 originated from Su Dongpo's （苏东坡） lyric 长恨此身非我有。Anyhow, 身不由己 means 'one's life and fate is not dominated completely by himself', that is, it's dominated partly by other people and the environment. The underlying fact is, nobody has complete freedom. So it emphasizes a feeling of '人生的无奈'。A good example is from Gu Long's (古龙) WuXia novel “人在江湖，身不由己”。

情不自禁 emphasizes 情, the emotion or feeling. A transliteration is 'one's emotion (feeling) is out of his own control'. That is, one tries to control his emotion but fails, then bursts into ... ... It is often followed by a verb.

Example: 她情不自禁地哭（唱，大笑）了起来。

不能自制：can't control one's behavior, desire, emotion etc.

example: 吸毒上瘾以后，大部分人都不能自制。

I think we can say 情不自禁 means 情绪不能自制。

[pazu]

It also appears in "為人由己, 而由人乎哉?"

[HashiriKata]

Here's the complete stanza (by 许巍) just in case anyone's interested:

青春的岁月 我们身不由己

只因这胸中 燃烧的梦想

青春的岁月 放浪的生涯

就任这时光 奔腾如流水

Cheers,

[ballbox1982]

seagate ,your explanation are so exactly and excellent.

[xiaoxiajenny]

由己 by oneself

[HSC]

Can someone give common (not from poetry, etc.) sentences that would use these expressions?

我身不由己

我不得不...

Thanks!

[冷清]

人在江湖，身不由己

我不得不伪装自己，为了不再受伤害。

[eddiewouldgo]

Can someone give common (not from poetry, etc.) sentences that would use these expressions?

我身不由己

我不得不...

Thanks!

我不得不繞路走，因爲每一次經過那商店，我都身不由己的走了進去。

[HSC]

Eddie, thanks for the example. I would like to analyze some other parts of this sentence.

我不得不繞路走，因爲每一次經過那商店，我都身不由己的走了進去。

绕路走 ... can we assume from 走 that you are walking, as opposed to, say, riding a bike or driving a car?

经过 ... means "pass by" right?

我都身不由己 ... 都 means every time / always? Could that be replaced by 总是？

身不由己的走了 ... I don't understand the 的 here，nor why you used 了.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Quest]

绕路走 ... can we assume from 走 that you are walking, as opposed to, say, riding a bike or driving a car?

I think it means walk here, because of the "我都身不由己地走了進去".

经过 ... means "pass by" right?

right.

我都身不由己 ... 都 means every time / always? Could that be replaced by 总是？

No, 都 goes with 每一次 i.e. 每一次都 = everytime

身不由己的走了 ... I don't understand the 的 here，nor why you used 了.

Should be 地, turns 身不由己 into an adverb/adverbial phrase

[HSC]

Gee, is there any language that's harder to learn? LOL (That could probably be a whole other discussion thread)

[eddiewouldgo]

绕路走 ... can we assume from 走 that you are walking, as opposed to, say, riding a bike or driving a car?

绕路走 means walk the other way/walk around it.

经过 ... means "pass by" right?

correct

我都身不由己 ... 都 means every time / always? Could that be replaced by 总是？

Using 总是 is fine. 每一次...总是

身不由己的走了 ... I don't understand the 的 here，nor why you used 了.

的 should be 地， my bad.

[eddy]

i like 许巍's songs! (zhinanwang@hotmail.com)

[HSC]

我都身不由己地走了進去

Why is 了 used here in this context? What does it convey?

[Devin]

Do You know DIY?...由已..

I feel 由己 like that..But no one use that only two words.

the words is to short..no one knows what dose this words mean.

maybe.the sentence must be length enough we should know.

like below:

由己來完成? to finish that by myself?