1 great effort

2 to strive

3 to try hard

1 idiot

2 fool

1 wax gourd (Cucurbitaceae, Benincasa hispida)

2 white gourd

3 white hairy melon

4 Chinese squash

1 pumpkin

1 sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas)

2 yam (family Dioscoreaceae)

1 to use one's best efforts to do sth (idiom)

1 lit. if you have to use force to break a melon off the vine, it won't taste sweet (because it's only when the melon is ripe that it can be removed with just a slight twist) (idiom)

2 fig. if sth is not meant to be, it's no use trying to force it to happen

1 to let go of the big prize while grabbing at trifles (idiom)

1 lit. ripe as a melon that rolls from its vine (idiom); fig. to know fluently

2 to know sth inside out

3 to know sth by heart

1 every potter praises his own pot (idiom)

2 all one's geese are swans