1 lit. when a man achieves the Dao, his poultry and dogs rise to Heaven (idiom)
2 fig. to ride on sb else's success
3 Once one man gets a government position, all his cronies get in too
4 Once sb has cracked the problem, every Tom, Dick and Harry can do it
一意孤行
yī yì gū xíng
1 obstinately clinging to one's course (idiom)
2 willful
3 one's own way
4 dogmatic
一举两得
yī jǔ liǎng dé
1 one move, two gains (idiom); two birds with one stone
一蹴而得
yī cù ér dé
1 to get there in one step (idiom); easily done
2 success at a stroke
3 to get results overnight
三心二意
sān xīn èr yì
1 in two minds about sth (idiom)
2 half-hearted
3 shilly-shallying
上不得台盘
shàng bù dé tái pán
1 too uncouth to appear in public (idiom)
2 unfit for a public role
不入虎穴,焉得虎子
bù rù hǔ xué , yān dé hǔ zǐ
1 How do you catch the tiger cub without entering the tiger's lair? (idiom); Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
来得容易,去得快
lái de róng yì , qù de kuài
1 Easy come, easy go. (idiom)
优游自得
yōu yóu zì dé
1 free and at leisure (idiom); unfettered
出乎意外
chū hū yì wài
1 beyond expectation (idiom); unexpected
出乎意料
chū hū yì liào
1 beyond expectation (idiom); unexpected
出人意外
chū rén yì wài
1 turned out other than expected (idiom); unexpected
出人意料
chū rén yì liào
1 unexpected (idiom)
2 surprising
出其不意
chū qí bù yì
1 to do sth when least expected (idiom); to catch sb off guard
出其不意,攻其不备
chū qí bù yì , gōng qí bù bèi
1 to catch an enemy off guard with a surprise attack (idiom, from Sunzi's "The Art of War" 孫子兵法|孙子兵法[Sūn zǐ Bīng fǎ])
动辄得咎
dòng zhé dé jiù
1 faulted at every turn (idiom); can't get anything right
势在必得
shì zài bì dé
1 to be determined to win (idiom)
千虑一得
qiān lu:4 yī dé
1 a thousand tries leads to one success (idiom, humble expr.); Even without any notable ability on my part, I may still get it right sometimes by good luck.
千军易得,一将难求
qiān jūn yì dé , yī jiàng nán qiú
1 Easy to raise an army of one thousand, but hard to find a good general. (idiom)
千里送鹅毛,礼轻人意重
qiān lǐ sòng é máo , lǐ qīng rén yì zhòng
1 goose feather sent from afar, a slight present but weighty meaning (idiom); It's not the present the counts, it's the thought behind it.
Sample Sentences
Free for members
Build your personal vocabulary!
With ChinesePod, you can not only build your vocabulary but also practice Chinese characters in our writing app!