Chinese Idioms
A curated set of 21 idioms in Chinese — literal translations, real meanings, and where each one comes from.
- 对牛弹琴 — Reasoning with someone who cannot understand. Literally: Playing the lute to a cow.
- 画蛇添足 — To ruin something by adding unnecessary extras. Literally: Drawing legs on a snake.
- 鸡同鸭讲 — Complete miscommunication; talking past each other. Literally: A chicken talking to a duck.
- 脱裤子放屁 — Doing something completely unnecessary and pointless. Literally: Taking off your pants to fart.
- 老虎屁股摸不得 — Don't provoke someone powerful or dangerous. Literally: You can't touch a tiger's butt.
- 半斤八两 — Six of one, half a dozen of the other — equally bad. Literally: Half a jin, eight liang.
- 臥虎藏龍 — Hidden talented individuals waiting quietly for their moment to shine. Literally: Crouching tiger hidden dragon.
- 马马虎虎 — So-so; careless and only just passable. Literally: Horse horse, tiger tiger.
- 拍马屁 — To flatter or suck up to someone. Literally: To pat the horse's rump.
- 亡羊补牢 — It's not too late to act after a setback to prevent further loss. Literally: To mend the pen after the sheep are lost.
- 杯弓蛇影 — To frighten yourself with imaginary fears. Literally: Bow in the cup, snake in the reflection.
- 胸有成竹 — To have a well-formed plan ready before you begin. Literally: To have a full bamboo in your chest.
- 井底之蛙 — Someone with a narrow, limited worldview. Literally: A frog at the bottom of a well.
- 守株待兔 — Vainly hoping a lucky fluke will repeat itself. Literally: Guarding the stump, waiting for a hare.
- 塞翁失马 — A blessing in disguise; fortune is unpredictable. Literally: The old frontiersman loses his horse.
- 狐假虎威 — To bully others using borrowed power. Literally: The fox borrows the tiger's might.
- 入乡随俗 — When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Literally: Enter the village, follow its customs.
- 一箭双雕 — To achieve two things with a single act. Literally: One arrow, two hawks.
- 班门弄斧 — To display feeble skill before a true master. Literally: To show off your axe at Lu Ban's gate.
- 名落孙山 — To fail an examination. Literally: One's name falls below Sun Shan.
- 雪上加霜 — To make a bad situation even worse. Literally: To add frost on top of snow.
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