ChinesePod

1 lit. three monks have no water to drink (idiom)
2 fig. everybody's business is nobody's business
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.)

做一天和尚撞一天钟

zuò yī tiān hé shang zhuàng yī tiān zhōng

1 lit. as a monk for today, toll today's bell (idiom)
2 fig. to do one's job mechanically
3 to hold a position passively

Sample Sentences

来了，这第三种呢就是无尾熊型老板。他是老好人，最怕起冲突。能比较容易愉快和睦地相处，就是要注意老板瞻前顾后的个性。

lái le ，zhè dì sān zhǒng ne jiùshì wúwěixióng xíng lǎobǎn 。tā shì lǎohǎorén ，zuì pà qǐ chōngtú 。néng bǐjiào róngyì yúkuài hémù de xiāngchǔ ，jiùshì yào zhùyì lǎobǎn zhānqiángùhòu de gèxìng 。

Now we're coming to it. This third kind of boss is- The Koala. He's a good kind of chap that really fears conflict. You can get along with them easily, happily and harmoniously, but you just have to be careful of your boss' overcautious personality.

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没错，祭祖的时候，人们会在桌上点上蜡烛，供上食物，然后再行叩拜祭祖之礼，寄望先人能保佑家庭和睦，万事如意。

méicuò ，jìzǔ de shíhou ，rénmen huì zài zhuō shàng diǎnshàng làzhú ，gōngshàng shíwù ，ránhòu zài xíng kòubài jìzǔ zhī lǐ ，jìwàng xiānrén néng bǎoyòu jiātíng hémù ，wànshì rúyì 。

Yes, when they worship the ancestors, people will light candles on the table and put food offerings on it, then they engage in the rite of kowtowing to the ancestors, in the hope that their forebearers will protect the harmony within the family and allow things to go smoothly for them.

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哎！我老公家是做生意的，重男轻女思想很严重。天天给我施压，催我再生个儿子。没办法，为了家庭和睦，只能再遭一次罪了。

ài ！wǒ lǎogōng jiā shì zuò shēngyi de ，zhòngnánqīngnǚ sīxiǎng hěn yánzhòng 。tiāntiān gěi wǒ shīyā ，cuī wǒ zài shēng ge érzi 。méi bànfǎ ，wèile jiātíng hémù ，zhǐnéng zài zāo yīcì zuì le 。

Ah! My husband's family is in business; they really heavily value boys over girls. They're pressuring and urging me every day to have a boy. I have no choice. All I can do is bear this burden for the sake of our family's harmony.

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就像他们弄堂里的生活，既有邻里间互相关照守望相助的温馨和睦，也不乏“七十二家房客”寸土必争。

jiù xiàng tāmen lòngtáng lǐ de shēnghuó ，jì yǒu línlǐ jiān hùxiāng guānzhào shǒuwàng xiāngzhù de wēnxīn hémù ，yě bùfá “qīshíèrjiāfángkè ”cùntǔbìzhēng 。

Take the people who live in the small lanes. They have not only the cozy harmony of mutual protection and concern, but also the fights for tiny scraps of territory that come when seventy-two tenants live in the same house.

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