赶鸭子上架
gǎn yā zi shàng jià
Pinyin

Definition

赶鸭子上架
 - 
gǎn yā zi shàng jià
  1. lit. to drive a duck onto a perch (idiom)
  2. fig. to push sb to do sth way beyond their ability

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

shǎng
  1. 1 see 上聲|上声[shǎng shēng]
Shàng hǎi
  1. 1 Shanghai municipality, central east China, abbr. to 滬|沪[Hù]
shàng bān
  1. 1 to go to work
  2. 2 to be on duty
  3. 3 to start work
  4. 4 to go to the office
ér zi
  1. 1 son
hái zi
  1. 1 child
dài shàng
  1. 1 to take along with one
fáng zi
  1. 1 house
  2. 2 building (single- or two-story)
  3. 3 apartment
  4. 4 room
  5. 5 CL:棟|栋[dòng],幢[zhuàng],座[zuò],套[tào],間|间[jiān]
rì zi
  1. 1 day
  2. 2 a (calendar) date
  3. 3 days of one's life
zǎo shang
  1. 1 early morning
  2. 2 CL:個|个[gè]
wǎn shang
  1. 1 evening
  2. 2 night
  3. 3 CL:個|个[gè]
  4. 4 in the evening
mǎ shàng
  1. 1 at once
  2. 2 right away
  3. 3 immediately
  4. 4 on horseback (i.e. by military force)
yī xià zi
  1. 1 in a short while
  2. 2 all at once
  3. 3 all of a sudden
yī bèi zi
  1. 1 (for) a lifetime
yī zhèn zi
  1. 1 a while
  2. 2 a spell
  3. 3 a short time
  4. 4 a burst
shàng xià
  1. 1 up and down
  2. 2 top and bottom
  3. 3 old and new
  4. 4 length
  5. 5 about
shàng xià bān
  1. 1 to start and finish work
shàng lái
  1. 1 to come up
  2. 2 to approach
  3. 3 (verb complement indicating success)
shàng chuán
  1. 1 to upload
shàng qián
  1. 1 to advance
  2. 2 to step forward
shàng wǔ
  1. 1 morning
  2. 2 CL:個|个[gè]

Idioms (20)

一哭二闹三上吊
yī kū èr nào sān shàng diào
  1. 1 to make a terrible scene (idiom)
  2. 2 to throw a tantrum
一条绳上的蚂蚱
yī tiáo shéng shàng de mà zha
  1. 1 lit. grasshoppers tied together with a piece of string (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. people who are in it together for better or worse
  3. 3 people who will sink or swim together
一瓶子不响,半瓶子晃荡
yī píng zi bù xiǎng , bàn píng zi huàng dang
  1. 1 lit. a full bottle makes no sound; a half-filled bottle sloshes (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. empty vessels make the most noise
三天不打,上房揭瓦
sān tiān bù dǎ , shàng fáng jiē wǎ
  1. 1 three days without a beating, and a child will scale the roof to rip the tiles (idiom)
  2. 2 spare the rod, spoil the child
上一次当,学一次乖
shàng yī cì dàng , xué yī cì guāi
  1. 1 to take sth as a lesson for next time (idiom)
  2. 2 once bitten, twice shy
上下其手
shàng xià qí shǒu
  1. 1 to raise and lower one's hand (idiom); to signal as conspiratorial hint
  2. 2 fig. conspiring to defraud
上不了台面
shàng bù liǎo tái miàn
  1. 1 better kept under the table (idiom)
  2. 2 not to be disclosed
  3. 3 too inferior to show in public
上不得台盘
shàng bù dé tái pán
  1. 1 too uncouth to appear in public (idiom)
  2. 2 unfit for a public role
上天入地
shàng tiān rù dì
  1. 1 lit. to go up to heaven or down to Hades (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to go to great lengths
  3. 3 to search heaven and earth
上天无路,入地无门
shàng tiān wú lù , rù dì wú mén
  1. 1 lit. there is no road to the sky, nor door into the earth (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to be at the end of one's rope
  3. 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. 1 lit. there is heaven above, and there is 蘇杭|苏杭[Sū Háng] below (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. the beauty and affluence of Suzhou and Hangzhou is comparable with heaven
上有政策,下有对策
shàng yǒu zhèng cè , xià yǒu duì cè
  1. 1 The higher ups have policies while the lower downs have their own ways of getting around them. (idiom)
上有老下有小
shàng yǒu lǎo xià yǒu xiǎo
  1. 1 lit. above are the elderly, below are the young (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to have to take care of both one's aging parents and one's children
  3. 3 sandwich generation
上梁不正下梁歪
shàng liáng bù zhèng xià liáng wāi
  1. 1 lit. If the upper beam is not straight, the lower beam will be crooked (idiom); fig. subordinates imitate their superiors' vices
上气不接下气
shàng qì bù jiē xià qì
  1. 1 out of breath (idiom)
  2. 2 to gasp for air
上行下效
shàng xíng xià xiào
  1. 1 subordinates follow the example of their superiors (idiom)
上贼船
shàng zéi chuán
  1. 1 lit. to board a pirate ship (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to associate with criminals
不入虎穴,焉得虎子
bù rù hǔ xué , yān dé hǔ zǐ
  1. 1 How do you catch the tiger cub without entering the tiger's lair? (idiom); Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
不要在一棵树上吊死
bù yào zài yī kē shù shàng diào sǐ
  1. 1 don't insist on only taking one road to Rome (idiom)
  2. 2 there's more than one way to skin a cat
不见兔子不撒鹰
bù jiàn tù zi bù sā yīng
  1. 1 you don't release the hawk until you've seen the hare (idiom)
  2. 2 one doesn't act without some incentive

Sample Sentences

赶鸭子上架”的意思就是强迫人去做能力不及的事情。
gǎnyāzishàngjià ”de yìsi jiùshì qiǎngpò rén qù zuò nénglì bùjí de shìqing 。
“Herd the ducks onto a perch.” means to force someone to do what’s beyond one’s power.
Go to Lesson 
别赶鸭子上架了,很明显地他还没准备好。我们找别人来吧!
bié gǎnyāzishàngjià le ,hěn míngxiǎn de tā hái méi zhǔnbèi hǎo 。wǒmen zhǎo biéren lái ba !
Don’t force him to do what’s beyond his power. Obviously he is not ready. Let’s find someone else to do it.
Go to Lesson 
开店前千万别赶鸭子上架,安全检查没做好就别营业,免得出人命了。
kāidiàn qián qiānwàn bié gǎnyāzishàngjià ,ānquán jiǎnchá méi zuò hǎo jiù bié yíngyè ,miǎnde chūrénmìng le 。
Don’t rush before opening a store. Don’t launch until the safety precautions are taken for fear of fatal consequences.
Go to Lesson 
关键是现在还要赶鸭子上架,搞定这些邮件。哎,怎么才能把心收回来啊?
guānjiàn shì xiànzài hái yào gǎn yāzi shàng jià ,gǎodìng zhèxiē yóujiàn 。āi ,zěnme cái néng bǎ xīn shōu huílai a ?
What's bad is that we're being put on the spot with these emails. Agh, how are we going to be able to get our minds back on track?