<blockquote>
  <p>Also, is this kind of Chengyu (the first and last two characters are flipped) common? </p>
</blockquote>

<p>No, it's not common. </p>

<p>相濡以沫 is the most people would use. 以沫相濡 is not that common, though we can understand it. </p>

<p>We don't usually flip the character order in idioms. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-04T15:04:34.240Z
2018-02-04T15:04:34.240Z
dan
<p>They are just variants of one another - with no real differences in meaning.</p>

<p>Although 相濡 and 以沫 technically aren't real words, you can split them up into two different phrases. Often these kind of phrase types are easily moved around or changed in phrases, expressions and the type.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-04T13:46:55.283Z
2018-02-04T13:46:55.283Z
Mou某
<p>I encountered the following sentence:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>他们都一直<strong>相濡以沫</strong>，患难与共。</p>
</blockquote>

<p>I looked up the entry on Pleco, and although it shows the meaning, it also redirects toward 以沫相濡, which seems to have the same meaning (as well as 濡沫).</p>

<p>So I wonder whether it is OK to assume that these are just synonyms and have no difference, or have any meaningful (even if tiny) difference.</p>

<p>Also, is this kind of Chengyu (the first and last two characters are flipped) common? And if it is practically same, why do these different forms exist in the first place?</p>

<meaning><chengyu>
Is there any difference between 相濡以沫 and 以沫相濡?
# Is there any difference between 相濡以沫 and 以沫相濡?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-02-04)

I encountered the following sentence:

> 他们都一直**相濡以沫**，患难与共。

I looked up the entry on Pleco, and although it shows the meaning, it also redirects toward 以沫相濡, which seems to have the same meaning (as well as 濡沫).

So I wonder whether it is OK to assume that these are just synonyms and have no difference, or have any meaningful (even if tiny) difference.

Also, is this kind of Chengyu (the first and last two characters are flipped) common? And if it is practically same, why do these different forms exist in the first place?

**Tags:** meaning, chengyu


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-02-04. Score: 4

> Also, is this kind of Chengyu (the first and last two characters are flipped) common?

No, it's not common.

相濡以沫 is the most people would use. 以沫相濡 is not that common, though we can understand it.

We don't usually flip the character order in idioms.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2018-02-04. Score: 1

They are just variants of one another - with no real differences in meaning.

Although 相濡 and 以沫 technically aren't real words, you can split them up into two different phrases. Often these kind of phrase types are easily moved around or changed in phrases, expressions and the type.


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