名落孙山 (míng luò Sūn Shān)

Meaning: To fail an examination.

Language: Chinese

Literally: One's name falls below Sun Shan

Category: Daily Life

Origin: Sun Shan placed dead last among those who passed, so anyone ranked below his name had failed — a wry classical jab.

More idioms — Daily Life

• De dans ontspringen — To narrowly escape trouble.
• Att smita från notan — To dodge paying or shirk responsibility.
• Att sätta sig på tvären — To be obstinate and refuse to cooperate.
• Wyjść jak Zabłocki na mydle — To lose out badly on a deal.
• Pabuç pahalı — Things are getting dangerous; time to be careful.
• İki ayağını bir pabuca sokmak — To rush and pressure someone relentlessly.

More Chinese idioms

• 雪上加霜 (Xuě shàng jiā shuāng) — To make a bad situation even worse.
• 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.

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