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
一个天南,一个地北
yī ge tiān nán , yī ge dì běi
1 to live miles apart (idiom)
一柱擎天
yī zhù qíng tiān
1 lit. to support the sky as a single pillar (idiom)
2 fig. to take a crucial responsibility upon one's shoulders
一步登天
yī bù dēng tiān
1 reaching heaven in a single bound (idiom); (esp. with negative: don't expect) instant success
一语道破
yī yǔ dào pò
1 one word says it all (idiom)
2 to hit the nail on the head
3 to be pithy and correct
三天不打,上房揭瓦
sān tiān bù dǎ , shàng fáng jiē wǎ
1 three days without a beating, and a child will scale the roof to rip the tiles (idiom)
2 spare the rod, spoil the child
三天两头
sān tiān liǎng tóu
1 lit. twice every three days (idiom); practically every day
2 frequently
上天入地
shàng tiān rù dì
1 lit. to go up to heaven or down to Hades (idiom)
2 fig. to go to great lengths
3 to search heaven and earth
上天无路,入地无门
shàng tiān wú lù , rù dì wú mén
1 lit. there is no road to the sky, nor door into the earth (idiom)
2 fig. to be at the end of one's rope
3 to be trapped in a hopeless situation
上有天堂,下有苏杭
shàng yǒu tiān táng , xià yǒu Sū Háng
1 lit. there is heaven above, and there is 蘇杭|苏杭[Sū Háng] below (idiom)
2 fig. the beauty and affluence of Suzhou and Hangzhou is comparable with heaven
不啻天渊
bù chì tiān yuān
1 no less than from heaven to the abyss (idiom); differing widely
2 worlds apart
3 the gap couldn't be bigger
不终天年
bù zhōng tiān nián
1 to die before one's allotted lifespan has run its course (idiom)
不见天日
bù jiàn tiān rì
1 all black, no daylight (idiom); a world without justice
不足为外人道
bù zú wéi wài rén dào
1 no use to tell others
2 let's keep this between ourselves (idiom)
九天揽月
jiǔ tiān lǎn yuè
1 to reach for the stars (idiom)
人命关天
rén mìng guān tiān
1 human life is beyond value (idiom)
人外有人,天外有天
rén wài yǒu rén , tiān wài yǒu tiān
1 in the wider world there are people more talented than oneself (idiom)
人定胜天
rén dìng shèng tiān
1 man can conquer nature (idiom); human wisdom can prevail over nature
仁义道德
rén yì dào dé
1 compassion, duty, propriety and integrity (idiom); all the traditional virtues
2 mainly used sarcastically, to mean hypocritical
以其人之道,还治其人之身
yǐ qí rén zhī dào , huán zhì qí rén zhī shēn
1 to use an opponent's own methods to obtain retribution (idiom, from Song dynasty neo-Confucianist Zhu Xi 朱熹); to get revenge by playing sb back at his own game
2 to give sb a taste of his own medicine
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