Chengyu Flashcards
画蛇添足
Paint the snake adding feet
Ruin the effect by adding something superfluous.
坐井观天
Looking at the sky from the bottom of a well.
Having a restricted outlook
拔苗助长
Pull up the seedlings to help them grow higher.
Spoil things because of a desire for quick success.
对牛弹琴
Play the qin to a cow.
Address the wrong audience, talk over someone’s head.
纸上谈兵
Discuss military tactics on paper.
To have unrealistic ideas, talk armchair strategies.
自相矛盾
To beat oneself with one’s own spear and shield.
Self contradictory.
入乡随俗
When you enter a village follow the customs.
Do as the natives do.
覆水难收
Water poured out is hard to put back.
Things done cannot be undone.
唇亡齿寒
The teeth will feel cold if the lips are gone.
The first cannot survive without the second.
如鱼得水
Feel just like a fish in the water.
In agreeable circumstances.
青出于蓝胜于蓝
Indigo came from blue but is prettier.
The student surpasses the master.
亡羊补牢
Mend the sheep fold after the sheep are lost.
To take action after suffering a loss.
饮水思源
When one drinks water think of its source.
Don’t forget where ones happiness comes from.
打草惊蛇
Beat the grass to scare the snake.
Act rashly and alert the enemy.
四海为家
Regard the four seas as home.
Make one’s home where ever one is.
