But the genie is out of the bottle.

Orphan Black Episode 9

劇中翻成：箭在弦上 不得不發

My comments:

Once the genie is out of the bottle, you can’t put it back in.

Meaning: something bad is going to happen, becoming avoidable now.

In other words, once a problem is allowed to get out of hand, it, well, gets out of hand and is out of control. Therefore, any problem you’d better nip in the bud, before it fully develops.

This expression is derived from an ancient Arabian fable.

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Go to Zhang Xin's column

本文僅代表作者本人觀點，與本網立場無關。歡迎大家討論學術問題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發布一切違反國家現行法律法規的內容。

About the author:

Zhang Xin（張欣） has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.