Idioms Gallery

一 (one) 場 (field) 春 (spring) 夢 (dream) 南柯一夢 also means an ephemeral dream, and it comes from the story of a man who took a short nap by a tr...

傾 (tilt) 家 (house) 破 (ruin) 産 (property) 破産 is the word for bankruptcy. 傾家破産 is (a bit arcane expression for) bankruptcy of the entire hous...

安 (peaceful) 貧 (poor) 樂 (happy) 道 (way) It seems so clear, yet when it comes to money, people are conflicted on their way to beatitude. ***...

刻 (carve) 畵 (paint) 無 (nothing) 鹽 (salt) 無鹽, Wuyan ("salt-free") was a smart woman who badly wanted to serve in the Qi dynasty imp...

美 (beauty) 辭 (express) 麗 (fine) 句 (phrase) Such a pretty concept, and yes, it may very well sound as frivolous(?) as "chi-chi boutiqu...

倒 (invert) 行 (do) 逆 (oppose) 施 (bestow) The world spends way too much time and energy, post-9/11, arguing over arbitrary borders, demarcatio...

着 (move) 眼 (eye) 大 (big) 局 (situation) 着 (move) 手 (hand) 小 (small) 局 (position) It is often quoted during Go ( 囲碁 , 바둑, 圍棋 ) , an ancien...

先 (first) 公 (public) 後 (later) 私 (private) " I have nothing but contempt for the kind of governor who is afraid, for whatever reason...

矛(spear) 盾 (shield) 撞 (collide) 着 (settle) A vendor is trying to hawk invincible spears and shields at the same time. In praising both ...

龍 (dragon) 頭 (head) 蛇 (snake) 尾 (tail) So, is it "the mother of all storms" as the New Orleans Mayor warned his citizens it was ...

無 (nil) 限 (limit) 追 (chase) 求 (seek) Jean-Luc Ponty, in his Infinite Pursuit , loops instrumental sequences resembling hypnotic Wii muzak. *...

春 (spring) 蛙 (frog) 秋 (autumn) 蟬 (cicada) An anagram of Obama-Biden happens to be "nabob media". There's a Vice President we t...

東 (east) 問 (ask) 西 (west) 答 (answer) or 問東答西, 問 (ask) 東 (east) 答 (answer) 西 (west) "...that after eight weeks of induction into the ele...

山 (mountain) 戰 (war) 水 (water) 戰 (war) So, you've been through it all. And you've come out on top. “It is not the mountain we conque...

韜 (sheath) 光 (light) 養 (nurture) 晦 (dark) This is a concept prized in the East. Sometimes you wonder if the West, especially America, has...

背 (back) 水 (water) 之 ('s) 陣 (troop formation) Where are the Russian-Georgian battlefronts? Two prominent natural features catch one'...

和 (harmony) 而 (and) 不 (not) 同 (sameness) The character 和 was proudly displayed during the impressive opening ceremony of the Beijing Olym...