中英文俚语对照

爱屋及乌Love me, love my dog.

百闻不如一见 Seeing is believing.

比上不足，比下有

余"worse off than some, better off than many; to fall short of the best, but

be better than the worst

笨鸟先飞 A slow sparrow should make an early start.

不眠之夜 white night

不以物喜，不以己

悲 not pleased by external gains, not saddened by personnal losse

s

不遗余力 spare no effort; go all out; do one,s best

不打不成交"No discord, no concord.

拆东墙补西墙 rob Peter to pay Paul

辞旧迎

新 bid farewell to the

old year and ring in

old and usher

the new

in the new; ring out the

大事化小，小事化

了 try first to make their mistake sound

to reduce it to nothing at all

less serious and then

大开眼

界 open one,s eyes; broaden one,s horizon; be an eye-opener

国泰民安 The country flourishes and people live in peace

过犹不

及 going too far is as bad as not going far enough; beyond is as wrong as

falling short; too much is as bad as too little

功夫不负有心人Everything comes to him who waits.

好了伤疤忘了疼 once on shore, one prays no more 好事不出门，恶事传千 里

Good news never goes beyond the gate, while bad news spread far and wide.

和气生财 Harmony brings wealth

活到老，学到老One is never too old to learn.

既往不咎 let bygones be bygones

金无足赤，人无完人Gold can,t be pure and man can,t be perfect.

金玉满堂 Treasures fill the home

脚踏实地 be down-to-earth

脚踩两只船 sit on the fence

君子之交淡如

水 the friendship between gentlemen is as pure as crystal; a hed ge between

keeps friendship green

老生常谈，陈词滥调cut and dried, cliche

礼尚往来 Courtesy calls for reciprocity.

留得青山在，不怕没柴烧 "Where there is life, there is hope.”

马到成功 achieve immediate victory; win instant success

名利双收 gain in both fame and wealth

茅塞顿开 be suddenly enlightened

没有规矩不成方

圆 Nothing can be accomplished without norms or standards.

每逢佳节倍思亲

On festive occasions more than ever one thinks of one,s dear one s far away.

It is on the festival occasions when one misses his dear most.

谋事在人，成事在

天“The planning lies with man, the outcome with Heaven. / Man proposes, God

disposes. ”

弄巧成拙 be too smart by half; Cunning outwits itself.

拿手好戏 masterpiece

赔了夫人又折兵 throw good money after bad

抛砖引

玉 a modest spur to induce others to

contributions; throw a sprat to catch

come forward withvaluable

a whale

破釜沉舟 cut off all means of retreat； burn one

's own way of retreat andbe determined to fight to the

抢得先机 take the preemptive opportunities

end

巧妇难为无米之

炊 If you have no hand you can,t make a fist./ One can,t make bricks without

straw.

千里之行始于足下

a thousand-li journey begins with the first step--the highest emin ence is to

be gained step by step

前事不忘,后事之

师 Past experience, if not forgotten, is a guide for the future.

前人栽树,后人乘

凉 One generation plants the trees in whose shade another generat ion rests.

One sows and another reaps.

前怕狼,后怕

虎 fear the wolf in front and the tiger behind/ hesitate in doi ng something

强龙难压地头

蛇 Even a dragon (from the outside) finds it hard to control a snake in its

old haunt - Powerful outsiders can hardly afford to neglect local bullies.

强强联手 win-win co-operation

瑞雪兆丰年 A timely snow promises a good harvest.

人之初，性本善 Man's nature at birth is good.

人逢喜事精神爽 Joy puts heart into a man.

人海战术 huge-crowd strategy

世上无难事，只要肯攀登"Where there is a will, there is a way. "

世外桃

源 a fictitious land of peace away from the turmoil of the worl d;

死而后已 until my heart stops beating

岁岁平安 Peace all year round

上有天堂，下有苏

杭"Just as there is paradise in heaven, ther are Suzhou and Ha ngzhou on

earth."

塞翁失马，焉知非福Misfortune may be an actual blessing.

三十而立"A man should be independent at the age of thirty.

At thirty, a man should be able to think for himself."

升级换代 updating and upgrading (of products)

四十不惑 Life begins at forty.

谁言寸草心，报得三春

晖"Such kindness of warm sun, can't be repaid by grass. "

水涨船高When the river rises, the boat floats high.

时不我待 Time and tide wait for no man.

杀鸡用牛刀 break a butterfly on the wheel

实事求

是 seek truth from facts; be practical and realistic; be true to facts

说曹操,曹操至U Talk of the devil and he comes.

实话实

说 speak the plain truth; call a spade a spade; tell it as it is

实践是检验真理的唯一标

准 Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth.

山不在高，有仙则

名 “No matter how high the mountain is, its name will spread fa r and wide

if there is a fairy; "

韬光养晦hide one,s capacities and bide one,s time

糖衣炮弹 sugar-coated bullets

天有不测风

云 Anything unexpected may happen. a bolt from the blue

团结就是力量 Unity is strength.

“跳进黄河洗不

清” "eve if one jumped into the Yellow River, one can not wash oneself

clean--there,s nothing one can do to clear one,s name "

歪风邪气 unhealthy practices and evil phenomena

物以类聚，人以群分 Birds of a feather flock together.

往事如

风"The past has vanished (from memory) like wind.; What in past

, is past."

望子成龙 hold high hopes for one,s child

屋漏又逢连阴

雨 Misfortunes never come singly. When it rains it pours.

文韬武略 military expertise; military strategy

唯利是图 draw water to one's mill

无源之水,无本之

木 water without a source, and a tree wiithout roots

无中生有 make/create something out of nothing

无风不起

浪 There are no waves without wind. There's no smoke without fir e.

徇私枉法 bend the law for the benefit of relatives or friends

新官上任三把火 a new broom sweeps clean

虚心使人进步,骄傲使人落

后 Modesty helps one go forward, whereas conceit makes one lag b ehind.

蓄势而发 accumulate strength for a take-off

心想事成 May all your wish come true

心照不

宣 have a tacit understanding; give tacit consent; tacit understan ding

先入为主 First impressions are firmly entrenched.

先下手为强 catch the ball before the bound

像热锅上的蚂蚁 like an ant on a hot pan

现身说法 warn people by taking oneself as an example

息事宁人pour oil on troubled waters

喜忧参半 mingled hope and fear

循序渐进 step by step

一路平安，一路顺

风 speed somebody on their way; speed the parting guest

严以律己,宽以待

人 be strict with oneself and lenienttowards others

鱼米之乡 a land of milk and honey

有情人终成眷属 “Jack shall have Jill, all shall be well.”

有钱能使鬼推磨Money makes the mare go. Money talks.

有识之士 people of vision

有勇无谋 use brawn rather than brain

有缘千里来相

会 Separated as we are thousands of miles apart, we come togethe r as if by

predestination.

与时俱进 advance with times

以人为本 people oriented; people foremost

因材施教 teach students according to their aptitude

欲穷千里目，更上一层

楼 "to ascend another storey to see a thousand miles further; As cend

further, were you to look farther; Would eye embrace a thou sand miles? Go

up, one flight."

欲速则不达 Haste does not bring success.

优胜劣汰 survival of the fittest

英雄所见略同 Great minds think alike.

冤家宜解不宜结 Better make friends than make enemies.

冤假错

案"cases in which people were unjustly, falsely or wrongly charg ed or

sentenced; unjust, false or wrong cases"

一言既出，驷马难追A real man never goes back on his words.

招财进宝 Money and treasures will be plentiful 债台高筑 become debt-ridden

致命要害 Achilles, heel

众矢之的 target of public criticism

知己知彼，百战不殆

Know the enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred b attles with

no danger of defeat.

纸上谈兵be an armchair strategist

纸包不住火Truth will come to light sooner or later.

左右为

难 between the devil and the deep blue sea; between the rock an d the hard

place