不是鱼死就是网破

bù shì yú sǐ jiù shì wǎng pò

lit. either the fish dies or the net gets torn (idiom)

fig. it's a life-and-death struggle; it's either him or me

no; not so

shì

to be (followed by substantives only)

fish (CL:條|条[tiao2],尾[wei3])

to die

jiù

(after a suppositional clause) in that case; then

shì

to be (followed by substantives only)

wǎng

net

broken