“Gild the lily”in other languages
Spoil something that's already perfect by adding to it.
English
Chinese
Japanese
EnglishChineseJapaneseSame idea, different pictures
English misquotes Shakespeare: King John speaks of trying “to gild refined gold, to paint the lily”.
Chinese and Japanese draw legs on a snake, 画蛇添足, 蛇足. In an old Chinese story, men race to draw a snake; the fastest one finishes, adds legs to show off, and loses, because snakes don't have legs.
More sayings in other languages
- Give someone the brush-off
- Give someone the cold shoulder
- Give someone what for
- Go all out
- Go away empty-handed
- Go off on a tangent
- Go overboard
- Go pear-shaped
- Go to rack and ruin