Eating closed-door soup
to eat closed-door soup to be left out in the cold;
Literally:
Meaning:
to be denied entrance
This expression can be used either for unwanted visitors, or if the person called on isn’t at home.
This is often combined with another phrase:
铁将军把门 – 吃闭门羹
tǐe jiāng jun bǎ mén, chī bì mén gèng
The iron general holds the door closed, [and the visitor had to] eat closed-door soup.
“Iron general” is the name given to traditional Chinese locks. They look something like this:
Illustrations by Jason Pym
