七手八脚
qī shǒu bā jiǎo
-
1 (idiom) with everyone lending a hand (eagerly but somewhat chaotically)
七扭八歪
qī niǔ bā wāi
-
1 misshapen
-
2 crooked
-
3 uneven (idiom)
七零八落
qī líng bā luò
-
1 (idiom) everything broken and in disorder
上有老下有小
shàng yǒu lǎo xià yǒu xiǎo
-
1 lit. above are the elderly, below are the young (idiom)
-
2 fig. to have to take care of both one's aging parents and one's children
-
3 sandwich generation
不拘小节
bù jū xiǎo jié
-
1 to not bother about trifles (idiom)
乱七八糟
luàn qī bā zāo
-
1 everything in disorder (idiom); in a hideous mess
-
2 at sixes and sevens
以夷制夷
yǐ yí zhì yí
-
1 to use foreigners to subdue foreigners (idiom); let the barbarians fight it out among themselves (traditional policy of successive dynasties)
-
2 Use Western science and technology to counter imperialist encroachment. (late Qing modernizing slogan)
以小人之心,度君子之腹
yǐ xiǎo rén zhī xīn , duó jūn zǐ zhī fù
-
1 to gauge the heart of a gentleman with one's own mean measure (idiom)
以小挤大
yǐ xiǎo jǐ dà
-
1 minor projects eclipse major ones (idiom)
以身作则
yǐ shēn zuò zé
-
1 to set an example (idiom); to serve as a model
作威作福
zuò wēi zuò fú
-
1 tyrannical abuse (idiom); riding roughshod over people
作茧自缚
zuò jiǎn zì fù
-
1 to spin a cocoon around oneself (idiom); enmeshed in a trap of one's own devising
-
2 hoist by his own petard
作鸟兽散
zuò niǎo shòu sàn
-
1 lit. scatter like birds and beasts (idiom)
-
2 fig. to head off in various directions
-
3 to flee helter-skelter
俾夜作昼
bǐ yè zuò zhòu
-
1 lit. to make night as day (idiom); fig. to burn the midnight oil
-
2 work especially hard
俾昼作夜
bǐ zhòu zuò yè
-
1 to make day as night (idiom, from Book of Songs); fig. to prolong one's pleasure regardless of the hour
偷工减料
tōu gōng jiǎn liào
-
1 to skimp on the job and stint on materials (idiom)
-
2 jerry-building
-
3 sloppy work
先发制人
xiān fā zhì rén
-
1 to gain the initiative by striking first (idiom); to preempt
-
2 to anticipate
-
3 preemptive
八仙过海,各显神通
Bā xiān guò hǎi , gè xiǎn shén tōng
-
1 lit. the Eight Immortals cross the sea, each showing his own special talent (idiom)
-
2 fig. (of each individual in a group) to give full play to one's unique capabilities
八字没一撇
bā zì méi yī piě
-
1 lit. there is not even the first stroke of the character 八 (idiom)
-
2 fig. things have not even begun to take shape
-
3 no sign of success yet
八字还没一撇
bā zì hái méi yī piě
-
1 lit. there is not even the first stroke of the character 八 (idiom)
-
2 fig. things have not even begun to take shape
-
3 no sign of success yet