纸上谈兵
zhǐ shàng tán bīng
Pinyin

Definition

纸上谈兵
 - 
zhǐ shàng tán bīng
  1. lit. military tactics on paper (idiom)
  2. fig. theoretical discussion that is worse than useless in practice
  3. armchair strategist
  4. idle theorizing
  5. cf Zhao Kuo 趙括|赵括 leading an army of 400,000 to total annihilation at battle of Changping 長平之戰|长平之战 in 260 BC

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

上
shǎng
  1. 1 see 上聲|上声[shǎng shēng]
上班
shàng bān
  1. 1 to go to work
  2. 2 to be on duty
  3. 3 to start work
  4. 4 to go to the office
早上
zǎo shang
  1. 1 early morning
  2. 2 CL:個|个[gè]
晚上
wǎn shang
  1. 1 evening
  2. 2 night
  3. 3 CL:個|个[gè]
  4. 4 in the evening
上下
shàng xià
  1. 1 up and down
  2. 2 top and bottom
  3. 3 old and new
  4. 4 length
  5. 5 about
上来
shàng lái
  1. 1 to come up
  2. 2 to approach
  3. 3 (verb complement indicating success)
上传
shàng chuán
  1. 1 to upload
上午
shàng wǔ
  1. 1 morning
  2. 2 CL:個|个[gè]
上去
shàng qù
  1. 1 to go up
上台
shàng tái
  1. 1 to rise to power (in politics)
  2. 2 to go on stage (in the theater)
上司
shàng si
  1. 1 boss
  2. 2 superior
上场
shàng chǎng
  1. 1 on stage
  2. 2 to go on stage
  3. 3 to take the field
上天
shàng tiān
  1. 1 Heaven
  2. 2 Providence
  3. 3 God
  4. 4 the day before
  5. 5 the sky above
  6. 6 to fly to the sky
  7. 7 to take off and fly into space
  8. 8 to die
  9. 9 to pass away
上学
shàng xué
  1. 1 to go to school
  2. 2 to attend school
上市
shàng shì
  1. 1 to hit the market (of a new product)
  2. 2 to float (a company on the stock market)
上帝
Shàng dì
  1. 1 God
上床
shàng chuáng
  1. 1 to go to bed
  2. 2 (coll.) to have sex
上手
shàng shǒu
  1. 1 to obtain
  2. 2 to master
  3. 3 overhand (serve etc)
  4. 4 seat of honor
上升
shàng shēng
  1. 1 to rise
  2. 2 to go up
  3. 3 to ascend
上映
shàng yìng
  1. 1 to show (a movie)
  2. 2 to screen

Idioms (20)

一哭二闹三上吊
yī kū èr nào sān shàng diào
  1. 1 to make a terrible scene (idiom)
  2. 2 to throw a tantrum
一条绳上的蚂蚱
yī tiáo shéng shàng de mà zha
  1. 1 lit. grasshoppers tied together with a piece of string (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. people who are in it together for better or worse
  3. 3 people who will sink or swim together
三天不打，上房揭瓦
sān tiān bù dǎ , shàng fáng jiē wǎ
  1. 1 three days without a beating, and a child will scale the roof to rip the tiles (idiom)
  2. 2 spare the rod, spoil the child
上一次当，学一次乖
shàng yī cì dàng , xué yī cì guāi
  1. 1 to take sth as a lesson for next time (idiom)
  2. 2 once bitten, twice shy
上下其手
shàng xià qí shǒu
  1. 1 to raise and lower one's hand (idiom); to signal as conspiratorial hint
  2. 2 fig. conspiring to defraud
上不了台面
shàng bù liǎo tái miàn
  1. 1 better kept under the table (idiom)
  2. 2 not to be disclosed
  3. 3 too inferior to show in public
上不得台盘
shàng bù dé tái pán
  1. 1 too uncouth to appear in public (idiom)
  2. 2 unfit for a public role
上天入地
shàng tiān rù dì
  1. 1 lit. to go up to heaven or down to Hades (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to go to great lengths
  3. 3 to search heaven and earth
上天无路，入地无门
shàng tiān wú lù , rù dì wú mén
  1. 1 lit. there is no road to the sky, nor door into the earth (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to be at the end of one's rope
  3. 3 to be trapped in a hopeless situation
上有天堂，下有苏杭
shàng yǒu tiān táng , xià yǒu Sū Háng
  1. 1 lit. there is heaven above, and there is 蘇杭|苏杭[Sū Háng] below (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. the beauty and affluence of Suzhou and Hangzhou is comparable with heaven
上有政策，下有对策
shàng yǒu zhèng cè , xià yǒu duì cè
  1. 1 The higher ups have policies while the lower downs have their own ways of getting around them. (idiom)
上有老下有小
shàng yǒu lǎo xià yǒu xiǎo
  1. 1 lit. above are the elderly, below are the young (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to have to take care of both one's aging parents and one's children
  3. 3 sandwich generation
上梁不正下梁歪
shàng liáng bù zhèng xià liáng wāi
  1. 1 lit. If the upper beam is not straight, the lower beam will be crooked (idiom); fig. subordinates imitate their superiors' vices
上气不接下气
shàng qì bù jiē xià qì
  1. 1 out of breath (idiom)
  2. 2 to gasp for air
上行下效
shàng xíng xià xiào
  1. 1 subordinates follow the example of their superiors (idiom)
上贼船
shàng zéi chuán
  1. 1 lit. to board a pirate ship (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to associate with criminals
不要在一棵树上吊死
bù yào zài yī kē shù shàng diào sǐ
  1. 1 don't insist on only taking one road to Rome (idiom)
  2. 2 there's more than one way to skin a cat
世上无难事，只怕有心人
shì shàng wú nán shì , zhǐ pà yǒu xīn rén
  1. 1 there is nothing the determined person can't accomplish (idiom)
  2. 2 persistence will overcome
先礼后兵
xiān lǐ hòu bīng
  1. 1 peaceful measures before using force (idiom); diplomacy before violence
  2. 2 jaw-jaw is better than war-war
全民皆兵
quán mín jiē bīng
  1. 1 to bring the entire nation to arms (idiom)

Sample Sentences

好啊，我还真是有兴趣。对书法历史我是能说得头头是道，不过真的没有什么实践经验，不能只是纸上谈兵啊。
hǎo a ，wǒ hái zhēn shì yǒu xìngqù 。duì shūfǎ lìshǐ wǒ shì néng shuō de tóutóushìdào ，bùguò zhēnde méiyǒu shénme shíjiàn jīngyàn ，bùnéng zhǐshì zhǐshàngtánbīng ā 。
OK, I really am interested. I'm very clear on the history of calligraphy, but I really don't have any practical experience. It's not good to just be an armchair calligrapher.
Go to Lesson 
我看你就是纸上谈兵，那怎么也没见你有行动？
wǒ kàn nǐ jiùshì zhǐshàngtánbīng ，nà zěnme yě méi jiàn nǐ yǒu xíngdòng ？
It seems to me that you're all talk and no action. How come I've never seen you do anything like this before?
Go to Lesson