Idioms Gallery

錦 (silk) 衣 (apparel) 玉 (jade) 食 (food) The Golden Gate Bridge constantly attracts quite a few show-offs. Sailing the San Francisco Bay last...

*So I've decided to make this comment a full entry. If http://www.penpoemrelay.org is busy, Here's the original translation on Fac...

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶/ 温家宝) happens to be a poet. (How cool is that?) Contrast Wen's optimistic use of 响起春雷 with; Prison an...

矯 (straighten) 角 (horn) 殺 (kill) 牛 (bull) So you do end up burning the house to roast the pig, even if burning the house down is the last ou...

蝸 (snail) 角 (horn) 之 ('s) 爭 (fight) The Qi (齊) dynasty broke a pact made with the Wei (魏) dynasty, forcing angry Wei to consider a stri...

蓋 (cover) 世 (world) 之 (of) 才 (talent) "Tara Donovan Among 2008 MacArthur “Genius Grant” Winners CHICAGO—The MacArthur Foundation has an...

以 (with) 熱 (heat) 治 (rule) 熱 (heat) So... Whatever happened to glorious, glorious, Persia? *** "Iran ready to fight fire with fire -- T...

竭 (drain) 澤 (pond) 而 (and) 漁 (fish) Who would be foolish enough to drain the pond to get to the fish? *** "Are New spapers Doomed? -- ...

走 (run) 馬 (horse) 看 (see) 山 (mountain) You are running a mile a minute. You are missing all the details. Mais le diable est dans les détai...

危 (perilous) 機 (machine) 一 (one) 髮 (hair) Imagine a situation where the entire machinery is hanging by one single hair. It might or might n...

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 ...