IdiomAnimals
Chinese
Chinese画蛇添足 (huà shé tiān zú)
Meaning: To ruin something by adding unnecessary extras.
Literally: Drawing legs on a snake
Example: “这篇文章已经很好了，再加结尾就是画蛇添足。” — The article is already good; adding another ending would be gilding the lily.
English equivalent: To gild the lily
Equivalents in other languages
Japanese: 蛇足 (dassoku) Literally: Snake legs
English: gild the lily
Origin: From the Zhanguo Ce (Strategies of the Warring States), in the Qi section: some servants given a single cup of wine agreed that whoever finished drawing a snake first would drink it. The first to finish, sure of winning, began adding feet, and another servant, done meanwhile, took the wine, saying snakes have no feet. Adding feet to a snake is spoiling something by overdoing it.
More Chinese idioms
- 脱裤子放屁 (tuō kùzi fàng pì) Doing something completely unnecessary and pointless.
- 半斤八两 (bàn jīn bā liǎng) Six of one, half a dozen of the other — equally bad.
- 卧虎藏龙 (Wò hǔ cáng lóng) Hidden talented individuals waiting quietly for their moment to shine.
- 马马虎虎 (Mǎmǎhūhū) So-so; careless and only just passable.
- 拍马屁 (pāi mǎpì) To flatter or suck up to someone.
- 亡羊补牢 (Wáng yáng bǔ láo) It's not too late to act after a setback to prevent further loss.
Explore another collection: Proverbs
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- 鱼与熊掌不可兼得 (Yú yǔ xióngzhǎng bù kě jiān dé) You can't have two good things that exclude each other.
- 欲速则不达 (Yù sù zé bù dá) Trying to go too fast makes you fail.
- 朽木不可雕 (Xiǔ mù bù kě diāo) Some people or materials are beyond improving.
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