IdiomAnimals
Chinese
Chinese井底之蛙 (Jǐng dǐ zhī wā)
Meaning: Someone with a narrow, limited worldview.
Literally: A frog at the bottom of a well
Example: “只看本地新闻，会变成井底之蛙。” — If you only read local news, you won't see beyond the end of your nose.
English equivalent: Not to see beyond the end of one's nose
Equivalents in other languages
Korean: 우물 안 개구리 (Umul an gaeguri) Literally: A frog in a well
English: not see beyond the end of one's nose
Origin: From the Zhuangzi, in the chapter Autumn Floods (4th–3rd century BC): "A frog in a well cannot be told about the sea; it is bound by the narrowness of its home." Zhuangzi also tells of a frog in a broken well boasting of its puddle to a great turtle from the Eastern Sea. A frog at the bottom of a well is someone with a narrow view of the world.
More Chinese idioms
- 一箭双雕 (Yī jiàn shuāng diāo) To achieve two things with a single act.
- 班门弄斧 (bān mén nòng fǔ) To display feeble skill before a true master.
- 名落孙山 (míng luò Sūn Shān) To fail an examination.
- 雪上加霜 (Xuě shàng jiā shuāng) To make a bad situation even worse.
- 五十步笑百步 (Wǔshí bù xiào bǎi bù) Mocking someone for a fault you share, only to a lesser degree.
- 得不偿失 (Dé bù cháng shī) What you gain is less than what it costs you.
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