成语翻译

January 26th, 2008 | by lindsay | Posted in » 翻译参考 | 548 views |

  爱屋及乌 Love me, love my dog.

  百闻不如一见 Seeing is believing.
 
  比上不足,比下有余 “worse off than some, better off than many; to fall short of the best, but be better than the worst
 
  笨鸟先飞 A slow sparrow should make an early start.
 
  不眠之夜 white night 
 
  不以物喜,不以己悲 not pleased by external gains, not saddened by personnal losses
 
  不遗余力 spare no effort; go all out; do one’s best
 
  不打不成交 “No discord, no concord.
 
  拆东墙补西墙 rob Peter to pay Paul
 
  辞旧迎新 bid farewell to the old and usher in the new; ring out the old year and ring in the new
 
  大事化小,小事化了 try first to make their mistake sound less serious and then to reduce it to nothing at all
 
  大开眼界 open one’s eyes; broaden one’s horizon; be an eye-opener
 
  国泰民安 The country flourishes and people live in peace
 
  过犹不及 going too far is as bad as not going far enough; beyond is as wrong as falling short; too much is as bad as too little
 
  功夫不负有心人 Everything comes to him who waits.
 
  好了伤疤忘了疼 once on shore, one prays no more
 
  好事不出门,恶事传千里 Good news never goes beyond the gate, while bad news spread far and wide.
 
  和气生财 Harmony brings wealth
 
  活到老,学到老 One is never too old to learn.
 
  既往不咎 let bygones be bygones
 
  金无足赤,人无完人 Gold can’t be pure and man can’t be perfect.
 
  金玉满堂 Treasures fill the home
 
  脚踏实地 be down-to-earth
 
  脚踩两只船 sit on the fence
 
  君子之交淡如水 the friendship between gentlemen is as pure as crystal; a hedge between keeps friendship green
 
  老生常谈,陈词滥调 cut and dried, cliché
 
  礼尚往来 Courtesy calls for reciprocity.
 
  留得青山在,不怕没柴烧 “Where there is life, there is hope.”
 
  马到成功 achieve immediate victory; win instant success
 
  名利双收 gain in both fame and wealth
 
  茅塞顿开 be suddenly enlightened
 
  没有规矩不成方圆 Nothing can be accomplished without norms or standards.
 
  每逢佳节倍思亲
 
  On festive occasions more than ever one thinks of one’s dear ones far away.
 
  It is on the festival occasions when one misses his dear most.
 
  谋事在人,成事在天 “The planning lies with man, the outcome with Heaven. / Man proposes, God disposes. ”
 
  弄巧成拙 be too smart by half; Cunning outwits itself.
 
  拿手好戏 masterpiece
 
  赔了夫人又折兵 throw good money after bad
 
  抛砖引玉 a modest spur to induce others to come forward with valuable contributions; throw a sprat to catch a whale
 
  破釜沉舟 cut off all means of retreat; burn one‘s own way of retreat and be determined to fight to the end
 
  抢得先机 take the preemptive opportunities
 
  巧妇难为无米之炊 If you have no hand you can’t make a fist./ One can’t make bricks without straw.
 
  千里之行始于足下a thousand-li journey begins with the first step–the highest eminence is to be gained step by step
 
  前事不忘,后事之师 Past experience, if not forgotten, is a guide for the future.
 
  前人栽树,后人乘凉 One generation plants the trees in whose shade another generation rests.
 
  One sows and another reaps.
 
  前怕狼,后怕虎 fear the wolf in front and the tiger behind/ hesitate in doing something
 
  强龙难压地头蛇 Even a dragon (from the outside) finds it hard to control a snake in its old haunt - Powerful outsiders can hardly afford to neglect local bullies.
 
  强强联手 win-win co-operation
 
  瑞雪兆丰年 A timely snow promises a good harvest.
 
  人之初,性本善 Man’s nature at birth is good.
 
  人逢喜事精神爽 Joy puts heart into a man.
 
  人海战术 huge-crowd strategy
 
  世上无难事,只要肯攀登 “Where there is a will, there is a way. ”
 
  世外桃源 a fictitious land of peace away from the turmoil of the world;
 
  死而后已 until my heart stops beating
 
  岁岁平安 Peace all year round
 
  上有天堂,下有苏杭 “Just as there is paradise in heaven, ther are Suzhou and Hangzhou on earth.”
 
  塞翁失马,焉知非福 Misfortune may be an actual blessing.
 
  三十而立 “A man should be independent at the age of thirty.
 
  At thirty, a man should be able to think for himself.”
 
  升级换代 updating and upgrading (of products)
 
  四十不惑 Life begins at forty.
 
  谁言寸草心,报得三春晖 “Such kindness of warm sun, can’t be repaid by grass. ”
 
  水涨船高 When the river rises, the boat floats high.
 
  时不我待 Time and tide wait for no man.
 
  杀鸡用牛刀 break a butterfly on the wheel
 
  实事求是 seek truth from facts; be practical and realistic; be true to facts
 
  说曹操,曹操到 Talk of the devil and he comes.
 
  实话实说 speak the plain truth; call a spade a spade; tell it as it is
 
  实践是检验真理的唯一标准 Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth.
 
  山不在高,有仙则名 “No matter how high the mountain is, its name will spread far and wide if there is a fairy; ”
 
  韬光养晦 hide one’s capacities and bide one’s time
 
  糖衣炮弹 sugar-coated bullets
 
  天有不测风云 Anything unexpected may happen. a bolt from the blue
 
  团结就是力量 Unity is strength.
 
  “跳进黄河洗不清” “eve if one jumped into the Yellow River, one can not wash oneself clean–there’s nothing one can do to clear one’s name ”
 
  歪风邪气 unhealthy practices and evil phenomena
 
  物以类聚,人以群分 Birds of a feather flock together.
 
  往事如风 “The past has vanished (from memory) like wind.; What in past, is past.”
 
  望子成龙 hold high hopes for one’s child
 
  屋漏又逢连阴雨 Misfortunes never come singly. When it rains it pours.
 
  文韬武略 military expertise; military strategy
 
  唯利是图 draw water to one’s mill
 
  无源之水,无本之木 water without a source, and a tree wiithout roots
 
  无中生有 make/create something out of nothing
 
  无风不起浪 There are no waves without wind. There’s no smoke without fire.
 
  徇私枉法 bend the law for the benefit of relatives or friends
 
  新官上任三把火 a new broom sweeps clean
 
  虚心使人进步,骄傲使人落后 Modesty helps one go forward, whereas conceit makes one lag behind.
 
  蓄势而发 accumulate strength for a take-off
 
  心想事成 May all your wish come true
 
  心照不宣 have a tacit understanding; give tacit consent; tacit understanding
 
  先入为主 First impressions are firmly entrenched.
 
  先下手为强 catch the ball before the bound
 
  像热锅上的蚂蚁 like an ant on a hot pan
 
  现身说法 warn people by taking oneself as an example
 
  息事宁人 pour oil on troubled waters
 
  喜忧参半 mingled hope and fear
 
  循序渐进 step by step
 
  一路平安,一路顺风 speed somebody on their way; speed the parting guest
 
  严以律己,宽以待人 be strict with oneself and lenient towards others
 
  鱼米之乡 a land of milk and honey
 
  有情人终成眷属 “Jack shall have Jill, all shall be well.”
 
  有钱能使鬼推磨 Money makes the mare go. Money talks.
 
  有识之士 people of vision
 
  有勇无谋 use brawn rather than brain
 
  有缘千里来相会 Separated as we are thousands of miles apart, we come together as if by predestination.
 
  与时俱进 advance with times
 
  以人为本 people oriented; people foremost
 
  因材施教 teach students according to their aptitude
 
  欲穷千里目,更上一层楼 “to ascend another storey to see a thousand miles further; Ascend further, were you to look farther; Would eye embrace a thousand miles? Go up, one flight.”
 
  欲速则不达 Haste does not bring success.
 
  优胜劣汰 survival of the fittest
 
  英雄所见略同 Great minds think alike.
 
  冤家宜解不宜结 Better make friends than make enemies.
 
  冤假错案 “cases in which people were unjustly, falsely or wrongly charged or sentenced; unjust, false or wrong cases”
 
  一言既出,驷马难追 A real man never goes back on his words.
 
  招财进宝 Money and treasures will be plentiful
 
  债台高筑 become debt-ridden
 
  致命要害 Achilles’ heel
 
  众矢之的 target of public criticism
 
  知己知彼,百战不殆 Know the enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles with no danger of defeat.
 
  纸上谈兵 be an armchair strategist
 
  纸包不住火 Truth will come to light sooner or later.
 
  左右为难 between the devil and the deep blue sea; between the rock and the hard place

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