文档介绍：Some Useful Idioms
三十六行,行行出状元。
Every profession produces its own leading authority. / Every trade has its own master.
精诚所至,金石为开。
Absolute sincerity will move a heart of stone. / No difficulty is insurmountable if one sets his mind to it.
旧瓶装新酒
New wine in old bottles – new content in old form
苦干加巧干
Work both arduously and skillfully
只可意会,不可言传
Can be understood but not described
将在外,君命有所不受。
A field general is not bound by the emperor’s orders.
君子动手,小人动手。
A gentleman uses his tongue, a bastard, his fists.
Some Useful Idioms
人多好办事。
Many hands make light work.
起承转合
Opening, developing, changing approach and concluding – the 4 steps of Chinese classic writing
皮笑肉不笑
Put on a false smile
令人哑口无言
Strike somebody dumb, strike somebody speechless
莫须有的罪名
Fabricated charges
明一套,暗一套
Do one way in the open and another in secret
勉为其难
Undertake to do what is beyond one’s power
惊天地,泣鬼神
Startle the universe and move the gods –very moving
惊慌失措,手忙脚乱
Be thrown into panic and utter confusion
Some Useful Idioms
酒逢知己千杯少,话不投机半句多。
For a congenial friend, a thousand toasts are too few; in a disagreeable conversation, one word more is too many.
雷声大,雨点小
Loud thunders but small raindrops – much said but little done
解铃还须系铃人。
It is better for the doer to undo what he has done.
乐天知命
Be contented with one’s lot
眉毛胡子一把抓
Try to grasp the eyebrows and the beard all at once, try to attend to big and small matters all at once.
连环计
A series of stratagems
空头支票
A bounced check, lip service
家丑不可外扬。
Domestic shame should not be made public. / Don’t wash your dirty linen in public.
Some Useful Idioms
三天打鱼,两天晒网。
Spend three days fishing and two days s, work (or study) on and off
家书抵万金。
A letter from home is worth ten thousand pieces of gold.
明枪易躲,暗箭难防。
It is easy to evade a visible spear, but hard to guard against an unseen arrow – better an open enemy than a false friend
机不可失,时不在来。
Once lost, an opportunity is never found again. / Now or never.
近水楼台先得月。
A waterfront pavilion gets the moonlight first