The Chinese idiom 狼狈不堪 is formed by combining 狼 (wolf) and 狈 (a mythical wolf-like beast with short front legs), which together reference a legend where these creatures depend on each other to move but remain clumsy and trapped, thereby symbolizing a state of collaboration resulting in embarrassment or difficulty; the addition of 不堪 (unbearable or cannot endure) intensifies this to convey a meaning of extreme distress or an unsightly predicament.