杯水车薪 (杯水車薪)
bēi shuǐ chē xīn
Pinyin
Definition
杯水车薪 (杯水車薪)
-
- lit. a cup of water on a burning cart of firewood (idiom); fig. an utterly inadequate measure
Character Decomposition
Idioms (20)
一清如水
- 1 lit. as clear as water (idiom)
- 2 fig. (of officials etc) honest and incorruptible
一碗水端平
- 1 lit. to hold a bowl of water level (idiom)
- 2 fig. to be impartial
一点水一个泡
- 1 honest and trustworthy (idiom)
三个和尚没水喝
- 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.)
不显山不露水
- 1 lit. to not show the mountain and to not reveal the water (idiom); fig. to hide the key facts
Sample Sentences
那都只是杯水车薪,而且还有附加条件。总之事实是世界各国的贫富差距越来越悬殊!
That's just a drop in the bucket, and there are strings attached. In the end, the truth is that the gap between rich and poor in every country in the world is getting wider all the time!