English
30 Chinese Idioms to do with animals
| duì niú tán qín对 牛 弹 琴 |
Playing music for the
cattle(牛niú)
;
Meaning
: It is waste of time to presenting facts and reasoning things with an obstinate or foolish person.
|
|
jiǔ niú yī máo
九 牛 一 毛 |
A hair of nine
cattles(牛niú)
;
Meaning
: a thing or a matter which is tiny and insignificant.
|
|
chē shuǐ mǎ lóng
车 水 马 龙 |
The vehicles driving like flowing water; horses riding like flying
dragon(龙 lóng)
;
Meaning
: the lively scene on the street: crowded with people and vehicles.
|
| huà shé tiān zú画 蛇 添 足 |
Drawing a
snake(蛇shé)
, and adding feet;
Meaning
: doing something which is unnecessary.
|
|
mǎ dào chéng gōng
马 到 成 功 |
When the
horses(马mǎ)
arrived, people get immediate success;
Meaning
: easy and quick success from the beginning.
|
| qīng méi zhú mǎ青 梅 竹 马 |
Green plums and a bamboo
horse(马mǎ
), a children’s game of riding on a bamboo stick for a horse;
Meaning
: friendship formed in childhood, especially between boys and girls.
|
| shùn shǒu qiān yáng顺 手 牵 羊 |
Leading away the
sheep(羊yáng)
on the way out;
Meaning
: taking the opportunity to take other people’s things.
|
| jī quǎn bú níng鸡 犬 不 宁 |
Fowls and dogs(鸡犬jī quǎn)
are not in peace;Meaning: something causing a big chaos
|
| xiǎo niǎo yī rén小 鸟 依 人 |
Like a little
bird (鸟 niǎo)
resting upon a man;
Meaning
: a woman being timid and lovely next to a man
|
|
yā què wú shēng
鸦 雀 无 声 |
There is even no sound of
crows(鸦yā)
and
sparrows(雀què)
;
Meaning
: as silent as the grave; absolute quietness
|
| yī jiàn shuāng diāo一 箭 双 雕 |
Kill two
eagles(雕diāo)
with one arrow;
Meaning
: killing two birds with one stone, doing one thing while achieve two purposes.
|
|
rú yú dé shuǐ
如 鱼 得 水 |
Feeling just like a
fish(鱼yú)
swimming in water;
Meaning
: somebody gets into a comfortable and easy situation.
|
|
jǐng dǐ zhī wā
井 底 之 蛙 |
A
frog(蛙wā)
at the bottom of a well, only able to see the little patch of sky above;
Meaning
: a person with a narrow view.
|
|
zhū sī mǎ jì
蛛 丝 马 迹 |
The web of
spider(蛛zhū)
and footprints of
horse(马mǎ)
;
Meaning
: the clues (of a crime).
|
| zhāo bīng mǎi mǎ招 兵 买 马 |
Recruiting soldiers and buying up
horses(马mǎ)
;
Meaning
: enlarge an army/organization/company by recruiting people.
|
|
niǎo yǔ huā xiāng
鸟 语 花 香 |
Birds (鸟niǎo)
twitter and flowers give away fragrance;
Meaning
: A rosy picture of spring.
|
|
hè lì jī qún
鹤 立 鸡 群 |
A
crane(鹤hè)
standing among
chicken(鸡jī);
Meaning
: somebody who stands out in a group.
|
| bèn niǎo xiān fēi笨 鸟 先 飞 |
A slow
bird(鸟niǎo)
fly earlier than others;
Meaning
: the early birds catch the worm
|
| shǔ mù cùn guāng鼠 目 寸 光 |
The eyes of a
rat(鼠shǔ)
can only only an inch of light;
Meaning
: a person with a narrow view
|
| hú péng gǒu yǒu狐 朋 狗 友 |
Make friends with
dogs(狗gǒu)
and
foxes(狐hú)
;
Meaning
: being friends with the wrong type of people; evil associates
|
| láng xīn gǒu fèi狼 心 狗 肺 |
The heart of a
wolf(狼láng)
and the lung of a
dog(狗gǒu)
;
Meaning
: rapacious as a wolf and savage as a cur.
|
| jīng gōng zhī niǎo惊 弓 之 鸟 |
A
bird(鸟niǎo)
frightened by a bow;
Meaning
: an extremely frightened person.
|
| chén yú luò yàn沉 鱼 落 雁 |
One who would make wild
geese(雁yàn)
alight and
fish(鱼yú)
dive down for shame;
Meaning
: a woman being extremely gorgeous and beautiful.
Hints: Even though this phrase is exaggerated, but girls love it.
|
| wáng yáng bǔ láo亡 羊 补 牢 |
Mend the hole after a
sheep(羊yáng)
is lost;
Meaning
: take precautions to avoid future loss.
|
| hǔ bèi xióng yāo虎 背 熊 腰 |
With a back like a
tiger’s (虎hǔ)
and a waist like a
bear’s (熊xióng)
.
Meaning
: a person (especially woman) with overly strong figure.
Hints: No woman like it. Use it carefully.
|
| yáng rù hǔ kǒu羊 入 虎 口 |
A
sheep(羊yáng)
getting into the mouth of
tiger(虎hǔ)
;
Meaning
: entering a very dangerous situation
|
| shǒu zhū dài tù守 株 待 兔 |
Lying by the tree to wait for a
hare(兔tù)
that would kill itself by crashing into a tree trunk;
Meaning
: waiting unrealistically for something good to happen without making an effort
|
|
lóng mǎ jīng shén
龙 马 精 神 |
The vigour of a
dragon(龙lóng)
or
horse(马mǎ)
;
Meaning
: people with full of vigour.
Hints: The old really like to hear this phrase, especially for male.
|
| mǎ bú tíng tí马 不 停 蹄 |
The
horse(马mǎ)
gallops on without stop;
Meaning
: making a hurried journey without stop.
|
| rén yǎng mǎ fān人 仰 马 翻 | Men and horses(马mǎ) thrown off their feet; Meaning : suffering a crushing defeat. |
August 6, 2015
RitaGreat list, thanks for publishing it!
I enjoyed recognizing some of the familiar idioms and discovering the new ones! 🙂
October 6, 2014
Love me, love my dog? - What do Chinese really feel about dogs |[…] For more idioms about animals and their meanings, you can see my precious article on 30 Chinese Idioms to do with animals. […]