一五一十
yī wǔ yī shí
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1 lit. count by fives and tens (idiom); to narrate systematically and in full detail
一唱一和
yī chàng yī hè
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1 to echo one another (idiom)
一团和气
yī tuán hé qì
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1 to keep on the right side of everyone (idiom)
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2 warm and affable
一波未平，一波又起
yī bō wèi píng , yī bō yòu qǐ
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1 before the first wave subsides, a new wave rises (idiom); a new problem arises before the old is solved
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2 many twists and turns to a story
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3 one thing after another
一碗水端平
yī wǎn shuǐ duān píng
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1 lit. to hold a bowl of water level (idiom)
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2 fig. to be impartial
一马平川
yī mǎ píng chuān
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1 flat land one could gallop straight across (idiom); wide expanse of flat country
丈二和尚，摸不着头脑
zhàng èr hé shang , mō bu zháo tóu nǎo
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1 lit. like a three-meter high monk, you can't rub his head (idiom)
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2 fig. at a total loss
三五成群
sān wǔ chéng qún
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1 in groups of three or four (idiom)
三令五申
sān lìng wǔ shēn
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1 to order again and again (idiom)
三个和尚没水喝
sān gè hé shang méi shuǐ hē
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1 lit. three monks have no water to drink (idiom)
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2 fig. everybody's business is nobody's business
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3 (If there is one monk, he will fetch water for himself. If there are two, they will fetch water together. But if there are three or more, none will take it upon himself to fetch water.)
三番五次
sān fān wǔ cì
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1 over and over again (idiom)
三纲五常
sān gāng wǔ cháng
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1 three principles and five virtues (idiom)
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2 the three rules (ruler guides subject, father guides son and husband guides wife) and five constant virtues of Confucianism (benevolence 仁, righteousness 義|义, propriety 禮|礼, wisdom 智 and fidelity 信)
五十步笑百步
wǔ shí bù xiào bǎi bù
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1 the one who has retreated 50 steps laughs at the one who has retreated 100 steps (idiom)
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2 the pot calls the kettle black
五味俱全
wǔ wèi jù quán
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1 a complete gamut of all five flavors (idiom); every flavor under the sun
五味杂陈
wǔ wèi zá chén
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1 with complex feelings (idiom)
五彩缤纷
wǔ cǎi bīn fēn
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1 all the colors in profusion (idiom); a garish display
五百年前是一家
wǔ bǎi nián qián shì yī jiā
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1 five hundred years ago we were the same family (idiom) (said of persons with the same surname)
五色缤纷
wǔ sè bīn fēn
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1 all the colors in profusion (idiom); a garish display
五体投地
wǔ tǐ tóu dì
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1 to prostrate oneself in admiration (idiom); to adulate sb
五鬼闹判
wǔ guǐ nào pàn
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1 Five ghosts mock the judge, or Five ghosts resist judgment (title of folk opera, idiom); important personage mobbed by a crowd of ne'er-do-wells