fú xīng gāo zhào

to be in luck; to be very lucky

xiù sè kě cān

extremely attractive; breathtakingly beautiful

直译: a beautiful countenance that can be eaten

出处: From a line in the poem 《日出東南隅行》 by Lu Ji (陸機)

qiū hòu suàn zhàng

to wait until the time is ripe to settle accounts, to bide time for revenge; to get revenge after a matter is over

直译: settling accounts after the autumn harvest

出处: From the historical judicial practice where less-serious prisoners on death row would not be executed immediately after sentencing, but during autumn.

jī bù xiāng néng

to not get along for a long time

jī xí nán gǎi

established habits are difficult to change

jī shǎo chéng duō

to accumulate little by little; many small things add to something great

kōng qián jué hòu

💡 Урьд хожид байгаагүй, дахин давтагдашгүй.

kōng wú yī wù

to have nothing

kōng huà lián piān

endless pages of empty verbiage; long talk with no real substance

chuān jīn dài yín

to be gorgeously dressed and lavishly adorned

chuāng míng jī jìng

clean; tidy; neat; a well-organised place

直译: the window is clear; the desk is clean

tóng nán tóng nǚ

unmarried teenage boys and girls

xiào diào dà yá

to laugh one's head off; ridiculous and embarrassing

直译: to laugh one's molars off

bǐ dǐ shēng huā

to begin to show one’s literary brilliance

bǐ guǎn tiáo zhí

bolt upright

bèn tóu bèn nǎo

stupid; slow-witted; muddleheaded; clumsy; cumbersome

děng ér xià zhī

to be worse compared to this

jí jí wú míng

unknown; unrenowned

cū shēng cū qì

loudly and rudely

jīng wèi tián hǎi

dogged determination

出处: From The Classic of Mountains and Seas

lěi sǐ lěi huó

work oneself to death; tire oneself out through overwork

hóng guāng mǎn miàn

glowing with health; ruddy and radiant

yuē fǎ sān zhāng

to agree on a three-point law; to make a few rules to be observed by everyone

出处: From Shiji, Volume 8

xì wēi mò jié

trivial detail; tiny and insignificant detail

xì sī kǒng jí

The more one thinks about it, the more petrified one becomes.

直译: carefully-think-afraid-extremely

出处: Shortened from the following phrase: : replacing 想 with 思 which is used more in written language, to make it resemble a genuine Chinese chengyu (idiom). Made popular by a compilation of Internet neologisms posted on Sina Weibo on June 16, 2013.

xì sī jí kǒng

alternative form of 細思恐極 /细思恐极 (xìsīkǒngjí, “The more one thinks about it, the more petrified one becomes.”)

直译: carefully-think-extremely-afraid

xì shuǐ cháng liú

to economize to avoid running short; to work steadily at something little by little

直译: a trickle flows for a long time

jīng shì jì mín

to administer the state to relieve the suffering of the people

jué kǒu bù tí

to not say a word about a particular thing

jué dì tiān tōng

to sever communication between earth and Heaven; to separate the realms of humans and spirits

出处: First attested in the Book of Documents (尚書), “Lü Xing” (呂刑), in reference to Chong and Li (重、黎) cutting off or regulating communication between Heaven and earth. Later explained in the Discourses of the States (國語) as Zhuanxu assigning Chong to oversee Heaven and spirits, and Li to oversee earth and people.

jué zǐ jué sūn

to have no descendants

jué sè tiān xiāng

woman of incomparable beauty; unrivalled beauty

jì wǎng kāi lái

to carry on predecessors' work and open up a new path for posterity

lǜ shuǐ qīng shān

synonym of 青山綠水 /青山绿水 (qīngshānlǜshuǐ, “green hills and rivers; beautiful landscape”)