一五一十
yī wǔ yī shí
-
1 lit. count by fives and tens (idiom); to narrate systematically and in full detail
一传十,十传百
yī chuán shí , shí chuán bǎi
-
1 news pass quickly from mouth to mouth (idiom)
-
2 an infectious disease spreads quickly (old meaning)
一字一泪
yī zì yī lèi
-
1 each word is a teardrop (idiom)
一字不提
yī zì bù tí
-
1 to not mention a single word (about sth) (idiom)
一字千金
yī zì qiān jīn
-
1 one word worth a thousand in gold (idiom)
-
2 (in praise of a piece of writing or calligraphy) each character is perfect
-
3 each word is highly valued
一字褒贬
yī zì bāo biǎn
-
1 dispensing praise or blame with a single word (idiom)
-
2 concise and powerful style
一年被蛇咬十年怕井绳
yī nián bèi shé yǎo shí nián pà jǐng shéng
-
1 bitten by a snake in one year, fears the well rope for ten years (idiom); once bitten twice shy
一暴十寒
yī pù shí hán
-
1 one day's sun, ten days' frost (idiom, from Mencius); fig. to work for a bit then skimp
-
2 sporadic effort
-
3 short attention span
一曝十寒
yī pù shí hán
-
1 one day's sun, ten days' frost (idiom, from Mencius); fig. to work for a bit then skimp
-
2 sporadic effort
-
3 lack of sticking power
-
4 short attention span
一朝被蛇咬,十年怕井绳
yī zhāo bèi shé yǎo , shí nián pà jǐng shéng
-
1 once bitten by a snake, ten years in fear of a well rope
-
2 once bitten, twice shy (idiom)
一目十行
yī mù shí háng
-
1 ten lines at a glance (idiom)
-
2 to read very rapidly
三七二十一
sān qī èr shí yī
-
1 three sevens are twenty-one (idiom)
-
2 the facts of the matter
-
3 the actual situation
三十而立
sān shí ér lì
-
1 thirty years old and therefore independent (idiom, from Confucius)
三百六十行
sān bǎi liù shí háng
-
1 all walks of life (idiom)
-
2 every trade
五十步笑百步
wǔ shí bù xiào bǎi bù
-
1 the one who has retreated 50 steps laughs at the one who has retreated 100 steps (idiom)
-
2 the pot calls the kettle black
八字没一撇
bā zì méi yī piě
-
1 lit. there is not even the first stroke of the character 八 (idiom)
-
2 fig. things have not even begun to take shape
-
3 no sign of success yet
八字还没一撇
bā zì hái méi yī piě
-
1 lit. there is not even the first stroke of the character 八 (idiom)
-
2 fig. things have not even begun to take shape
-
3 no sign of success yet
八字还没一撇儿
bā zì hái méi yī piě r5
-
1 lit. there is not even the first stroke of the character 八 (idiom)
-
2 fig. things have not even begun to take shape
-
3 no sign of success yet
十全十美
shí quán shí měi
-
1 complete and beautiful
-
2 to be perfect (idiom)
十年树木,百年树人
shí nián shù mù , bǎi nián shù rén
-
1 It takes ten years to nurture a tree, but a hundred years to train a man (idiom). A good education program takes a long time to develop.