IdiomDaily Life
Chinese
Chinese得不偿失 (Dé bù cháng shī)
Meaning: What you gain is less than what it costs you.
Literally: The gain doesn't make up for the loss
Example: “为了省一点钱通宵排队，结果第二天上班迟到，真是得不偿失。” — Queuing all night to save a little money and then being late for work the next day: the game wasn't worth the candle.
English equivalent: The game is not worth the candle
Equivalents in other languages
French: Le jeu n'en vaut pas la chandelle Literally: The game is not worth the candle
English: the game is not worth the candle
Spanish: Sale más caro el collar que el perro Literally: The collar costs more than the dog
Italian: Il gioco non vale la candela Literally: The game isn't worth the candle
Japanese: 労多くして功少なし (Rō ōkushite kō sukunashi) Literally: Much toil, little merit
Dutch: Het sop is de kool niet waard Literally: The broth isn't worth the cabbage
Polish: Gra niewarta świeczki Literally: The game isn't worth the candle
Russian: Игра не стоит свеч (Igra ne stoit svech) Literally: The game isn't worth the candles
Origin: The idea is old: the Book of the Later Han (5th century) has 得不酬失, "the gain does not repay the loss." Su Shi writes 所得不偿失 in an 11th-century poem to his brother, and Lu You (12th century) uses the exact four characters in a preface: "the gain doesn't make up for the loss, nor the honor for the shame."
More Chinese idioms
- 对牛弹琴 (duì niú tán qín) Reasoning with someone who cannot understand.
- 画蛇添足 (huà shé tiān zú) To ruin something by adding unnecessary extras.
- 鸡同鸭讲 (jī tóng yā jiǎng) Complete miscommunication; talking past each other.
- 脱裤子放屁 (tuō kùzi fàng pì) Doing something completely unnecessary and pointless.
- 老虎屁股摸不得 (Lǎohǔ pìgu mō bu dé) Don't provoke someone powerful or dangerous.
- 半斤八两 (bàn jīn bā liǎng) Six of one, half a dozen of the other — equally bad.
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