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Questions tagged [idioms]

Questions related to idioms, maxims, sayings, and other expressions consisting of a combination of words that has an indirect, figurative meaning. Use also the tag [chengyu] for questions about chengyu's.

In linguistics, idiomaticity is defined as the following:

Use of segmentally complex expressions whose semantic structure is not deducible jointly from their syntactic structure and the semantic structure of their components. -- Weinreich (1972:89)

In Chinese, the most popular kind of idiom is the chengyu 成语, (usually) four-character idioms.

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What is the Chinese equivalent of English idiom "As if!"?

The English idiom "as if!" is used to express the speakers rejection that something is possible: A: "In a few years I'll be driving a Ferrari." B: "As if you'll ever have a Ferrari!" Here, B, does not believe it is possible that A will ever own…
jsj
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The question is regarding 成语－挟怨报复

I have a question: 成语－挟怨报复－可以用在下面情形吗？ 有一位前辈的报告写错了。 我善意指正他。 后来，我的报告他故意找问题。 下面这些可以吗？ 一朝权在手 便把令来行 心胸狭窄 倚势挟权 倚老卖老 窃弄威权 哪一个最好？
Farnz Seager
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Is the saying/idiom 天生我才必有用 religious?

I recently learned of the idiom "天生我才必有用," which if you translate it directly in google translate, is "everybody is good for something." However, I am curious about the origin of the saying and the context of the phrasing.
T L
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What does 含饴弄孙 mean?

What does 含饴弄孙 mean? What's its origin, what sort of contexts is it usually used in and also how popular an idiom is it? It does not seem to appear in any regular Chinese-English dictionary I've found, and the Chinese idiom guides seem pretty…
Alveoli
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Something like "turning lemons into lemonade"

Is there a Chinese saying roughly equivalent in meaning to "turning lemons into lemonade"? From Wikipedia, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade" is a proverbial phrase used to encourage optimism and a can-do attitude in the face of …
Aladdin
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Why should someone learning Chinese as a second language learn 成语 idioms?

I was discussing 成语 (a type of Chinese idiom) with my teacher, and she seemed to indicate that around the HSK5 level, there is a sharp increase in the number of 成语 that the student is required to learn. She also indicated that it was a common…
Becky 李蓓
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How to say "it's a function of ..." in Chinese?

The algebra analogy "it's a function of X" seems commonly used in daily conversations in English but it's rare to say "X是Y的函数" in non-mathematics context in Chinese. What would be an idiomatic translation? For example, how would you translate this…
NS.X.
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Why it is called 没大没小?

It is a commonly used idiom that means rude; no respect for one's elders. However, I wonder why it is called 没大没小. I would like to know its origin.
SolacunaRT
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Chinese version of the idiom "The word on the street"

"The word on the street" is an English idiom that basically means "rumors". The word on the street is that Bob's going to be fired. I was wondering if there was a similar Chinese idiom.
jsj
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Does the idiom 高城深池 have a positive or negative connotation?

The dictionary says that this idiom means impenetrable defense (high city walls, deep moat). Does this mean that an individual described with this idiom is stubborn or strong in resolve?
officespace
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Is there an idiomatic way to express being overwhelmed by vocabulary?

The other day, I wanted to describe my shock regarding the overwhelming HSK6 vocabulary list (~2500 additional words) to my teacher, so I came up with a self-made idiom 词山词海: taking 人山人海 and replacing 人 with 词. I thought it was apt and quite proud…
Becky 李蓓
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Chinese idiom to describe a long line

What is the idiom to describe a really long line of people (waiting in line to buy tickets, for example)? I know one of the words is 龙. I tried googling it, but couldn't find it.
TheRealFakeNews
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What is the 成语 for "face like buddha, heart like scorpion"?

I was watching Raise the Red Lantern (which is an excellent movie by the way) and saw this phrase come up on the subtitles, but wasn't able to catch what the actual Mandarin behind it was. Does anyone know what it translates to?
Squazic
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Do you *always* say Chinese idioms the exact same way (unlike English)?

I got some idioms from ChatGPT, like 井底之蛙 (jǐng dǐ zhī wā): "frog in the bottom of the well". Here we have: 他从未离开过家乡，真是一个井底之蛙。 Literal Gloss: 他 (tā): He 从未 (cóng wèi): never 离开 (lí kāi): leave 过 (guò): (particle indicating past experience) 家乡 (jiā…
Lance
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Is 风光不再 correct in 广州恒大风光不再?

I think it is a misspelling, which should have been 风光不在. 不再 is no more, or not any more 不在 is absent, unavailable Comparing the two, I think only the latter makes sense, for the former there has to be another complementary words, such as…
NanningYouth
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