Idioms Gallery
Jul 7, 2010
三人成虎 "truth" in numbers
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三 (three) 人 (people) 成 (attain) 虎 (tiger) Do you remember this Psych 101 conformity experiment? You are shown 4 bars, and you're asked ...
Jul 6, 2010
密雲不雨 massive portent, unrealized
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密 (dense) 雲 (cloud) 不 (not) 雨 (rain) Dark clouds before rain usually sound ominous, foreboding. Why has rain ever become such a ne gative w...
Jul 5, 2010
亡羊補牢 never too late
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亡 (lose) 羊 (sheep) 補 (mend) 牢 (pen) So, your sheep runs away owing, supposedly, to some shoddy construction. What do you do? Well, don...
一石二鳥 two birds with one stone
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一 (one) 石 (stone) 二 (two) 鳥 (birds) Yes, yes, I see the cost-effectiveness of this. But it has always struck me as a cruel idiom. It appea...
疾風勁草 integrity in adversity
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疾 (ill) 風 (wind) 勁 (unyielding) 草 (grass) The mightiest of mighty winds of this earth may try to break them, but some never do . Many end u...
小貪大失 trifling temptation at a great cost
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小 (small) 貪 (desire) 大 (big) 失 (loss) A la "penny-wise, pound-foolish", this is somewhat close to the feeling you have when you...
梅林止渴 a stopgap measure
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梅 (plum) 林 (woods) 止 (stop) 渴 (thirst) Okay. Just a little bit of history. (Bonus fact: My grandmother's family name was 林, and I a...
李下瓜田 leave no room for scandal
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李 (plum) 下 (below) 瓜 (melon) 田 (field) Are you stealing a plum? No, you are adjusting your hat under a plum tree. Are you stealing ...
針小棒大 make a mountain out of a molehill
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針 (pin) 小 (small) 棒 (pole) 大 (big) Have you ever had a scary experience and wanted to show off? "...you wouldn't be...
異口同聲 with one voice
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異 (different) 口 (mouth) 同 (same) 聲(sound) Alternate version: 異口同音 Would it be uncontested unanimity? Complete solidarity? Forced consensus? ...
盲人摸象 you don't know the whole story
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盲 (blind) 人 (man) 摸 (examine) 象 (elephant) You are blind. And small. One of you comes up to a large elephant and touches one of his legs. S...
事必歸正 inevitable good ending
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事 (event) 必 (must) 歸 (revert) 正 (right) This is willful optimism. That things are bound to end up being right, just, lawful, and good. It...
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