| Proverbs |
Annotation
And Connotations |
- Pass
oneself off as one of the Yu pipe players in an ensemble.
(Chinese
original: 滥竽充数Chinese Pinyin: Lan4 yu2 chong1 shu4.)
|
Hold
a post without adequate qualifications. |
- A
tiger never returns to his prey he did not finish off.
(Chinese
original: 老虎不吃回头食 Chinese Pinyin: Lao3hu3 bu4 chi1 hui2tou2shi2.)
|
- For fear
that he may have exposed his trace, he will not take the risk of being
caught in making the same trip a second time. A clever thief would not
show up in the same spot soon again.
|
- An
aged steed confined to the stable still aspires after the glory of galloping
a thousand miles.
(Chinese
original:  Chinese Pinyin: Lao3 ji4 fu2 li4, zhi4 zai4 qian1 li3.)
|
Ambition
survives even in senior age. |
- Thunder
is louder than the little rain warrants.
(Chinese
original: 雷声大，雨点小 Chinese Pinyin: Lei2 sheng1 da4, yu3 dian3 xiao3.)
|
- More
words than action.
|
- The
wound caused by a sword can eventually be healed; the
hurt resulted from vicious remarks can never be undone.
(Chinese
original: 利剑伤人犹可愈，恶语伤人很难消 Chinese Pinyin: Li4jian4 shang1
ren2 you2 ke3 yu4, e4yu3 shang1 ren2 hen4 nan2 xiao1.)
|
Avoid
hurting people with vicious remarks when in anger or you
will regret it. |
- So
long as the green mountains are preserved, there will be no shortage
of firewood supply.
(Chinese
original: 留得青山在，不怕没柴烧 Chinese Pinyin: Liu2 de2 qing1 shan1 zai4, bu2
pa4 mei2 cai2 shao1.)
|
Used
to encourage a person not to give up in face of great disaster or despair.
The "green mountain" refers to the person himself. So long as
he is ok, he can rebuild everything. |
Begin
to dig a well only when one feels thirsty.
(Chinese
original:  Chinese Pinyin: Lin2 ke3 jue2 jing3.)
|
Begin
to take measures when it is too late. |
- Have
one's ears pierced only before the wedding ceremony starts.
(Chinese
original:  Chinese Pinyin: Lin2 shang4 jiao4 xian4 zha1 er3duo yan3r.)
|
- It is
a criticism of procrastination. Like a bride who waited till the last
minute to get things done that should have been done earlier. It also
has the connotation that it might be too late to wait till the last
minute.
|
- It
is better to start weaving your fishing nets than merely coveting fish
at the water.
(Chinese
original:  Chinese
Pinyin: Lin2 yuan1 mu4 yu2, bu4 ru2 tui4 er3 jie2 wang3.)
|
- One should
act than daydream.
|
- Flowing
water never goes bad; door hubs never gather termites.
(Chinese
original:  Chinese Pinyin: Liu2shui3 bu4 fu3, hu4shu1 bu2 du4.)
|
- It means
that people got to renew their knowledge not to stay behind. The English
"Rolling stone gathers no moss" has a different meaning.
|
- A
dragon will be teased by a shrimp in a shoal water; a tiger will be
bullied by a dog on a treeless plain.
(Chinese
original:  Chinese Pinyin: Long2 you2 qian3 shui3 zao1 xia1 xi4, hu3 luo4 ping2
yang2 bei4 quan3 qi1.)
(A similar proverb: A mighty dragon cannot subdue a local snake.  :
Qiang2 long2 bu1 an4 di4 tou2 she2.)
|
- One
thrives in his or her own territory. An able person in an adverse environment
cannot bring his talent into full play. Instead, he or she may become
an underdog of a less able person who has been in that environment for
a long time with a lot of connections.
|
- Some
prefer carrot while others like cabbage.
(Chinese
original: 萝卜白菜，各有所爱 Chinese Pinyin: Luo2bo1 bai2cai4, ge4 you3 suo3
ai4.)
|
- "One
man's meat is another's poison". People's preferences differ.
|
- A
dish of carrot hastily cooked may still has soil not cleaned off the
vegetable.
(Chinese
original:  Chinese Pinyin: Luo2bo1 kuai4 le bu4 xi3 ni2.)
|
- When
hurry through a job it is impossible to attend to the minute details.
|
- Throw
in a rock as someone is drowning in the well.
(Chinese
original: 落井下石Chinese Pinyin: Luo4 jing3 xia4 shi2.)
|
- Attack
someone while he is already in trouble or difficulty. It is like "hitting
one when he is down."
|
- Fallen
leaves return to the root.
(Chinese
original:  Chinese Pinyin: Luo4ye4 gui1 gen4.)
|
- Wherever
they are, Chinese would like to return to their motherland in their
senior ages.
|
Donkey's
lips do not fit in with a horse's mouth.
(Chinese
original: 驴唇不对马嘴 Chinese Pinyin: Lü2chun2 bu2 dui4 ma3zui3.) |
- It refers
to something totally irrelevant.
|
