But the genie is out of the bottle.

Orphan Black Episode 9

剧中翻成：箭在弦上 不得不发

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

本文仅代表作者本人观点，与本网立场无关。欢迎大家讨论学术问题，尊重他人，禁止人身攻击和发布一切违反国家现行法律法规的内容。

About the author:

Zhang Xin（张欣） 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.