不当家不知柴米贵
bù dāng jiā bù zhī chái mǐ guì
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1 a person who doesn't manage a household would not be aware how expensive it is (idiom)
人心不足蛇吞象
rén xīn bù zú shé tūn xiàng
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1 a man who is never content is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant (idiom)
偷鸡不成蚀把米
tōu jī bù chéng shí bǎ mǐ
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1 lit. to try to steal a chicken only to end up losing the rice used to lure it (idiom)
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2 fig. to try to gain an advantage only to end up worse off
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3 to go for wool and come back shorn
吞吞吐吐
tūn tūn tǔ tǔ
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1 to hum and haw (idiom); to mumble as if hiding sth
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2 to speak and break off, then start again
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3 to hold sth back
吞云吐雾
tūn yún tǔ wù
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1 to swallow clouds and blow out fog (idiom)
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2 to blow cigarette or opium smoke
囫囵吞枣
hú lún tūn zǎo
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1 to swallow in one gulp (idiom)
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2 (fig.) to accept without thinking
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3 to lap up
失之东隅，收之桑榆
shī zhī dōng yú , shōu zhī sāng yú
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1 to lose at sunrise but gain at sunset (idiom)
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2 to compensate later for one's earlier loss
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3 what you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabouts
巧妇难为无米之炊
qiǎo fù nán wéi wú mǐ zhī chuī
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1 The cleverest housewife cannot cook without rice (idiom); You won't get anywhere without equipment.
忍气吞声
rěn qì tūn shēng
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1 to submit to humiliation (idiom); to suffer in silence
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2 to swallow one's anger
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3 to grin and bear it
指桑骂槐
zhǐ sāng mà huái
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1 lit. to point at the mulberry tree and curse the locust tree
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2 fig. to scold sb indirectly
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3 to make oblique accusations (idiom)
推陈布新
tuī chén bù xīn
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1 to push out the old and bring in the new (idiom); to innovate
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2 to go beyond old ideas
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3 advancing all the time
星罗棋布
xīng luó qí bù
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1 scattered about like stars in the sky or chess pieces on a board (idiom); spread all over the place
渤澥桑田
bó xiè sāng tián
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1 lit. blue seas where once was mulberry fields (idiom, from 史記|史记[Shǐ jì], Record of the Grand Historian); time brings great changes
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2 life's vicissitudes
沧海桑田
cāng hǎi sāng tián
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1 lit. the blue sea turned into mulberry fields (idiom)
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2 fig. the transformations of the world
狼吞虎咽
láng tūn hǔ yàn
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1 to wolf down one's food (idiom); to devour ravenously
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2 to gorge oneself
生吞活剥
shēng tūn huó bō
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1 to swallow whole (idiom); fig. to apply uncritically
生米做成熟饭
shēng mǐ zuò chéng shú fàn
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1 lit. the raw rice is now cooked (idiom); fig. it is done and can't be changed
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2 It's too late to change anything now.
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3 also written 生米煮成熟飯|生米煮成熟饭
生米煮成熟饭
shēng mǐ zhǔ chéng shú fàn
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1 the rice is cooked
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2 what's done is done
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3 it's too late to change anything now (idiom)
生米熟饭
shēng mǐ shú fàn
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1 abbr. for 生米煮成熟飯|生米煮成熟饭, lit. the raw rice is now cooked (idiom); fig. it is done and can't be changed
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2 It's too late to change anything now.
米已成炊
mǐ yǐ chéng chuī
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1 lit. the rice has already been cooked (idiom)
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2 fig. what is done cannot be undone