18
votes
Accepted
Why did my Chinese teacher describe Donald Trump as 口吐莲花?
「莲花出淤泥而不染」，象征纯洁 (lotus flower came from mud but not stained by it. Symbolizing purity.)
Your teacher described him as 口吐莲花 in an ironic way, mocking his foul mouth
Idiom 舌灿莲花: 譬喻说话的文采和美妙 ("the ...
- 77.2k
15
votes
Accepted
Is 不 A 不 B a grammatical structure like 又 A 又 B?
Is 不 A 不 B a grammatical structure like 又 A 又 B?
They are different. Most [不 A 不 B] terms are either idiom or four characters idiomatic phrase that you have to memorize individually.
The A and B in [...
- 77.2k
13
votes
Accepted
What does 尽信书不如无书 mean?
尽 (jìn) = "completely"
信 (xìn) = "believe in"
书 (shū) = "book"
不如 (bùrú) = "better off"
无 (wú) = "without"
书 (shū) = "book"
"尽信书不如无书&...
- 77.2k
10
votes
Accepted
Meaning of 则 in 欲速则不达？
欲 －－ willing, want
速 －－ speedy, quick
则 －－ then, but
不 －－ not, negative
达 －－ arrive, done
If you want to finish it quicker, then you probably can't get it done (correctly).
- 1,307
10
votes
What does 降维攻击 mean?
降维攻击 or 降维打击 is from 刘慈欣 (Liu Cixin)'s famous sci-fi novel 三体 (The Three-Body Problem).
It means that an advanced civilization uses a dimension reduction weapon 二向箔 to destroy a low-grade civilization ...
- 629
9
votes
Accepted
Usage of 能骗就骗 (if you can cheat, then cheat)
能骗就骗 is a direct translation from a Cantonese expression "呃得就呃" (scam just because you can/ scam whenever you can)
It is a negative remark on someone's behavior; There's no encouragement of swindling ...
- 77.2k
8
votes
Should I use "闷声发大财" or "闷声大发财"？
Here is the summary of google hits on each term, including both Simplified and Traditional Chinese. Blue is for 发大财, and red is for 大发财:
So apparently 闷声发大财 is more ubiquitous, both in Simp. and Trad....
- 4,532
8
votes
Why it is called 没大没小?
大小 means the seniority or generation.
沒大沒小/没大没小
謂不顧長幼之分。
Regardless of seniority or generation.
不顧長幼之分。形容欠缺禮數，不懂規矩。
Regardless of seniority or generation.
To describe a lack of propriety and ...
- 1,511
7
votes
Accepted
「虚有其表」这个成语可以用來形容好看，但内容全错的报告吗？
有其表 可以描述 寫得很好看，很漂亮 。
虛 和 內容都錯 有一點點差距，但是基本上還是可以用。因為 內容都錯 要用 錯 來形容，但是 錯有其表 並不是常用的成語。所以，退而求其次，用 虛 也無不可。 空有其表 倒還聽過。
其他類似的詞還有下面這些，但不一定是成語，也有些許差距，提供參考。
空大老脬（ㄎㄨㄥ ㄉㄚˋ ㄌㄠˇ ㄆㄠ／kōng dà lǎo pāo）：表面雖強大，而實則虛浮萎弱。
...
- 1,974
7
votes
Accepted
The question is regarding 成语－挟怨报复
“挾怨報復”：心懷怨恨而報仇（bear resentment against somebody and retaliate）。
這的確是很常用的詞語，但大部分詞典只有相同意思的“挾嫌報復”。
This is indeed a very common word. But most of the dictionaries list only "挾嫌報復" which has the same ...
- 1,974
7
votes
What are five most useful or common Chengyu phrases in the workplace?
a newbie
菜鳥應該自認 才疏學淺 孤陋寡聞 有如 井底之蛙 所知有限
對公司的文化習慣更是 一無所知 一竅不通
縱然是 三頭六臂 神通廣大 學富五車 才高八斗
也不可 恃才傲物 妄自尊大 目中無人 不可一世
更不可 自命不凡 自以為是 夜郎自大 剛愎自用
應當 虛懷若谷 謙卑自牧 移樽就教 不恥下問
同事 循循善誘 諄諄教誨 善意提醒 好心指點
自當 ...
- 1,974
7
votes
What are five most useful or common Chengyu phrases in the workplace?
Two seniors
甲經理 老成持重 一絲不苟 實事求是 公正無私
看似 不苟言笑 態度嚴肅
其實 和藹可親 平易近人
對公司 忠心耿耿 鞠躬盡瘁
對部屬 寬大仁厚 一視同仁
做人 推心置腹 以誠相待 心口如一 古道熱腸
做事 一板一眼 有條有理 深思熟慮 以身作則
團隊 心悅誠服 五體投地 一團和氣 事半功倍
乙經理 老氣橫秋 倚老賣老 ...
- 1,511
7
votes
Accepted
Do "lipstick on a pig" and "画蛇添足" share the same meaning?
画蛇添足 means 'ruin things by adding unnecessary, inappropriate addition'
Adding legs on a snake in a painting not only doesn't improve its quality , it actually ruins it by adding unnecessary, ...
- 77.2k
7
votes
Are 仙草, 毒草 and 良草 broadly-used idioms?
Sometimes you can, just like you can use pot to refer cannabis when you talk to other smokers, you have to make sure the listeners are 网络小说 addict, otherwise they would totally have no idea what you ...
- 6,247
7
votes
Chinese of “No one will think you’re mute because you don’t speak”
The one comes to mind:
你不说话没人把你当哑巴。
你 can be omitted:
不说话没人把你当哑巴。
- 24k
7
votes
Accepted
Is there an explicit/crude saying for bravery in Chinese?
The size of one's 胆 (gallbladder) is metaphorically an indicator of courage, 胆大 = brave; 胆小 = cowardly
有种 (have pedigree) --> having great pride --> brave
Example sentence:
有种你别跑! - if you ...
- 77.2k
7
votes
Accepted
Why do people say “你死了这条心吧” instead of “这颗心”?
心 is used as the sense of 心思(thought), not literal sense heart. That's why 条 is more common in this case.
- 24k
7
votes
Accepted
Is 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' used as an idiom in Chinese? If so, how is it grammatically structured?
Although we can assign "grammatical categories" to idioms(成语), in general they do not freely appear in syntactic locations that expect phrases of that category. Hence "这里很卧虎藏龙" and ...
- 1,334
6
votes
Selling it as soon as you've bought it — Chinese expression
The most common way you would say is
现学现卖 or 现炒现卖
However, the actual and original expression is
旋炒旋卖
if you read ancient Chinese novels. The character 旋 means right after. This expression is ...
- 3,089
6
votes
Is 不 A 不 B a grammatical structure like 又 A 又 B?
why not? see bkrs: II cons.
1) 不 A 不 B (where A B are paired synonyms): not A B
不慌不忙 unhurried
2) 不 A 不 B (where A B are antonymous stative verbs): neither A nor B
不大不小 neither (too) big nor (too) ...
- 2,456
6
votes
What is this proverb?
(熬夜)晚起毀上午，早起(學習)傻一天
熬夜晚起毀上午
晚起毀上午
Getting up too late will lose a morning.
早起學習傻一天
早起傻一天
Getting up too early will have no spirit all day long.
- 1,974
6
votes
Why did my Chinese teacher describe Donald Trump as 口吐莲花?
口吐莲花 ( and 口吐芬芳） is a modern word online, e.g. in Dou Yin (TikTok Chinese version)
Mostly it's to show someone is saying dirty or ridiculous words.
Its original meaning is to say something is good, ...
- 597
6
votes
How to translate 因為所以科學道理?
I remember the the full slang was like
因为所以
科学道理
国家机密
干嘛告你
which was used when this person does not want to explain something, so he/she explains it with nonsense instead.
But it was a really old ...
- 61
5
votes
Accepted
5
votes
Meaning of 翼 in 不翼而飞
It means something disappeared as if it had flown away, and that something probably doesn't have wings.
It originally means words because words spread across the world without wings. Now it just ...
- 51
5
votes
Accepted
What are five most useful or common Chengyu phrases in the workplace?
A work place is also a social environment, almost all idioms can be incorporated into everyday conversations in the workplace. However, some idioms are more applicable in the work place.
公事公辦 - to ...
- 77.2k
5
votes
What are five most useful or common Chengyu phrases in the workplace?
A boss
董事長 大公無私 一言九鼎 樂善好施 德高望重
雖逾 古稀之年 雞皮鶴髮
但仍 老當益壯 生龍活虎
老人家 滿腹經綸 出口成章
常能 開誠布公 高談闊論 滔滔不絕 侃侃而談
因其 言之有物 發人深省 苦口婆心 頭頭是道
時為 春風化雨 時乃 當頭棒喝
令人聽得 津津有味 興致勃勃 豁然貫通 茅塞頓開
對公司業務 來龍去脈 了如指掌
...
- 1,599
5
votes
Accepted
"Speak Greek" in Chinese
说天书/听天书 would be proper one in my opinion.
It means one talks about the book from the heaven and no one would actually understand it.
For example, 他讲的话， 我就像听天书一样。 我听物理课像听天书。 他在说天书。
- 24k
5
votes
Accepted
Are 仙草, 毒草 and 良草 broadly-used idioms?
They're not.
The only one that might be understood easily is「毒草」, which sometimes pops up figuratively in modern literature, likely to be tied to a nuance of thought control:
毛澤東 《...
- 22.2k
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