不为左右袒
bù wèi zuǒ yòu tǎn
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1 to remain neutral in a quarrel (idiom)
人在江湖,身不由己
rén zài jiāng hú , shēn bù yóu jǐ
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1 you can't always do as you like
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2 one has to compromise in this world (idiom)
大江南北
Dà jiāng nán běi
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1 north and south sides of the Yangtze River (idiom)
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2 (fig.) all over China
宁左勿右
nìng zuǒ wù yòu
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1 (of one's political views) to prefer left rather than right (idiom during the Cultural Revolution)
左右两难
zuǒ yòu liǎng nán
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1 dilemma
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2 quandary
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3 Scylla and Charybdis
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4 between the devil and the deep blue sea (idiom)
左右逢源
zuǒ yòu féng yuán
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1 lit. to strike water right and left (idiom)
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2 fig. to turn everything into gold
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3 to have everything going one's way
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4 to benefit from both sides
左右开弓
zuǒ yòu kāi gōng
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1 lit. to shoot from both sides (idiom)
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2 fig. to display ambidexterity
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3 to slap with one hand and then the other, in quick succession
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4 to use both feet equally (football)
左思右想
zuǒ sī yòu xiǎng
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1 to turn over in one's mind (idiom); to think through from different angles
-
2 to ponder
左顾右盼
zuǒ gù yòu pàn
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1 glancing to left and right (idiom); to look all around
指点江山
zhǐ diǎn jiāng shān
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1 to talk idly about important matters (idiom)
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2 to set the world to rights
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3 to pass judgment on everything
文江学海
wén jiāng xué hǎi
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1 river of literacy, sea of learning (idiom); ars longa, vita brevis
春江水暖鸭先知
chūn jiāng shuǐ nuǎn yā xiān zhī
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1 lit. the duck is the first to know if the spring water is warm (idiom)
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2 fig. an expert in the field knows which way the wind blows
江山易改,本性难移
jiāng shān yì gǎi , běn xìng nán yí
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1 it is easier to change mountains and rivers than to alter one's character (idiom)
-
2 you can't change who you are
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3 Can the leopard change his spots?
江河日下
jiāng hé rì xià
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1 rivers pour away by the day (idiom); going from bad to worse
-
2 deteriorating day by day
江郎才尽
Jiāng láng cái jìn
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1 Jiang Yan has exhausted his talent (idiom)
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2 fig. to have used up one's creative powers
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3 to have writer's block
无颜见江东父老
wú yán jiàn Jiāng dōng fù lǎo
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1 (idiom) to be unable to return to one's hometown due to the shame of failure (originally referred to Xiang Yu 項羽|项羽[Xiàng Yǔ], who chose not to retreat to Jiangdong after his humiliating defeat)
王顾左右而言他
wáng gù zuǒ yòu ér yán tā
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1 the king looked left and right and then talked of other things
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2 to digress from the topic of discussion (idiom)
翻江倒海
fān jiāng dǎo hǎi
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1 lit. overturning seas and rivers (idiom)
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2 fig. overwhelming
-
3 earth-shattering
-
4 in a spectacular mess
船到江心,补漏迟
chuán dào jiāng xīn , bǔ lòu chí
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1 It's too late to plug the leak once ship is in the middle of the river. (idiom)
万里江山
wàn lǐ jiāng shān
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1 lit. ten thousand miles of rivers and mountains
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2 a vast territory (idiom)