小人物
xiǎo rén wù
Pinyin
Definition
小人物
-
- nonentity
- a nobody
Character Decomposition
Idioms (20)
一人得道,鸡犬升天
- 1 lit. when a man achieves the Dao, his poultry and dogs rise to Heaven (idiom)
- 2 fig. to ride on sb else's success
- 3 Once one man gets a government position, all his cronies get in too
- 4 Once sb has cracked the problem, every Tom, Dick and Harry can do it
一物降一物
- 1 lit. one object bests another object
- 2 every item has a weakness (idiom)
- 3 there is a rock to every scissor, a scissor to every paper, and a paper to every rock
一鸣惊人
- 1 to amaze the world with a single brilliant feat (idiom); an overnight celebrity
三人成虎
- 1 three men talking makes a tiger (idiom); repeated rumor becomes a fact
三人行,必有我师
- 1 lit. if three walk together, one can be my teacher (idiom, from the Analects of Confucius)
- 2 you have sth to learn from everyone
Sample Sentences
时代不同啦,小人物立大功,为理想而付出,能够一夜成名,这才是人们深层的追求与渴望,那种脚踏实地的伟人形象已经不流行了。
These are different times. To go from 'nobody' to 'somebody', to labour for your ideals, to have overnight fame, these are most people's deep-seated pursuits and desires. That 'honest hardworking step by step guy' image isn't popular anymore.
希望这些小人物真的能立大功,而不只是成就个人。否则还不如维持传统。
I hope these "nobody's" will actually do great things, rather than benefiting individual gain. Otherwise, it's best to keep to traditions.
I've collected a lot of Chaplin movies. Chaplin was always deeply sympathetic toward the little guy and the out of work, and made fun of capitalism and the powers that be. He supported progressive democratic movements, and so from the very beginning, Chaplin and his movies have been very popular in China.