Chinese chengyu – 談虎色變 The chéngyǔ 谈虎色变 (tán hǔ sè biàn) is broken down in into the four words – talk to(谈tán ) tiger (虎hǔ) color (色sè) change (变biàn). This is often translated to “one’s expression changes when ‘tiger’ is mentioned.’’ Once upon a time, there was man talking to his fellow villagers (村民 cūnmín)[…]
Chinese Idioms in English The Chinese idiom in English or Chengyu 笨鸟先飞 (bèn niǎo xiān fēi) breaks down to stupid (笨 – bèn) bird (鸟 – niǎo) first (先 – xiān) flies (飞 – fēi). Simply translated in English: a ‘stupid bird flies first’ or ‘the clumsy bird flies early’. These refers to those that[…]
Like adding wings to a tiger ? What is it? The chengyu 如虎添翼 (rú hǔ tiān yì) breaks down into the words: like (如Rú) tiger (虎hǔ) add (添tiān) wings (翼yì). This translates nicely to “like adding wings to a tiger” in English. Now, what does it mean to add wings to a tiger? As you[…]
Chinese Chengyu – 招兵买马 – To recruit soldiers and buy horses Chinese chengyu 招兵买马 (zhāo bīng mǎi mǎ) breaks down to into recruit (招zhāo ) soldiers (兵bīng) buy (买mǎi) horses (马 mǎ). This is translated into English as ‘recruit soldiers, buy horses.” You can take this chéngyǔ at face value since the meaning is essential “to raise a[…]
Chinese Chengyu – 狼多肉少 – Many Wolves Little Meat Chinese Chengyu 狼多肉少 (láng duō ròu shǎo) literally translates to wolf (狼 láng) many (多 duō) meat (肉 ròu), little (少 shǎo). Or, in more standard English, ‘many wolves, little meat.’ This is one of the more direct chéngyǔ, that doesn’t require a huge background story to[…]