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汉语成语中英文对照

5 22nd, 2008 | By timeuu | Category: 另类英语

风烛残年 to have one foot in the grave
风声鹤唳，草木皆兵 to apprehend danger in every sound
活到老学到老 It’s never too late to learn./ Live and learn.
前事不忘后事之师 Remember the past and it will guide your future.
星星之火可以燎原 A single spark can start a prairie fire.
待人宽容如待己 Live and let live.
按部就班 Learn to walk before you run.
南辕北辙 The salesmen were working at cross purposes with their supervisor.

病从口入祸从口出 Illness comes in by mouth and comes out by it.
笑里藏刀 a smile to hide one’s hate
留得青山在，不怕没柴烧 Where there’s life there’s hope
海底捞月 to fish in the air
海底捞针 to look for a needle in a bundle of hay
差之毫厘失之千里 A miss is as good as a mile
既往不咎 Let the dead bury their dead.
杀身成仁 to sacrifice one’s life to preserve one’s virtue complete
杀鸡焉用牛刀 Take not a musket to kill a butterfly
饥不择食 A good appetite is a good sauce.
害群之马 black sheep
家丑不可外扬 Don’t wash your dirty linen in public.
恩威并济 alternate weakness with severity
旁观者清 The outside sees the best of the game.
时运不济 to have a bad time
殊途同归 All roads lead to Rome.
众志成城/团结就是力量 Union is strenth.
疾风知劲草 Adversity reveals genius.
旁观者清，当局者迷 Lookers-on see most of the game.
莫在太岁头上动土 Let sleeping dogs lie.
毕恭毕敬 He always treats his boss cap in hand.

得意忘形 to leap out of one’s skin
捷足先登 The early bird catches the worm.
欲速则不达 Haste makes waste
欲速则不达 More haste, less speed.
欲加之罪，何患无辞 Give a dog a bad/an ill name and hang him.
混水摸鱼 to fish in troubled waters
贪小失大 penny-wise and poundfoolish
习惯成自然 once a use forever a custom
挂羊头卖狗肉 cry up wine and sell vinegar
贫无立锥之地 as poor as a church mouse
雪中送炭真君子/患难见真情 A friend in need is a friend indeed.
异想天开 to give loose to one’s fancy
集思广义 Two heads are better than one.
得过且过 to live from hand to mouth
情人眼里出西施 Love is blind.
情有独钟 All the girls liked Kevin, but he had eyes only for Mary.
冤家宜解不宜结 Better remove enmity than contract it.
眼不见为净 Out of sight, out of mind.
脱口而出 A slip of the tongue can sometimes land you in trouble.
设身处地 Sometimes you have to learn to be in my shoes.

智者千虑，必有一失 Homer sometimes nods.
胜不骄败不馁 to be not elated by success nor disturbed by failure
富贵在天 Riches and honors come from heaven.
智者不惑 A wise man is free from perplexities.
无风不起浪 There is no smoke without fire. (Where there is smoke, there is fire.)
画蛇添足 to paint the lily
趁火打劫 to fish in troubled waters
量入为出 to cut one’s coat according to one’s cloth/ make both ends meet
阳奉阴违 ostensible obedience
跑了和尚跑不了庙 The monk may run away, but the temple can’t run with him.
万物之灵 the lords of creation
万事开头难 Everything is difficult at the start
万无一失 not a single miss in a thousand times.
落井下石 to hit a person when he’s down
隔墙有耳 Pitchers have ears; walls have ears.
开夜车/挑灯夜战 Burn the midnight oil.
开诚布公 He always opens his heart to his spouse when he has a problem.
盗亦有道 Dog does not eat dog.
善有善报 One kindness is the price of another.

损人利己 to enrich oneself at others expense
置之死地而后生 Put the troops in death ground and they will live.
道高一尺魔高一丈 While the priest climbs a foot, the devil climbs ten.
预防胜于治疗 Prevention is better than cure.
新官上任三把火 New brooms sweep clean.
塞翁失马焉知非福 Misfortune might be a blessing in disguise.
路遥知马力日久见人心 A distant journey tests the strength of a horse and a long task proves the character of a man.
沧海一栗 a drop in the bucket
盖棺论定 Judge none blessed before his death.
岁月不饶人 Time and tide wait for no man.
经验即良师 Experience is the teacher.
微不足道 The police crackdown on speeding is just a drop in the ocean in solving Taiwan’s traffic problems.
勤能补拙 Diligence can make up for lack of intelligence.

寿终正寝 to die a natural death (to die in one’s bed)
寡不击众 There is no contending against odds.
对牛弹琴 to cast pearls before swine
祸不单行 Misfortunes never come single.
饱食终日无所事事 to eat the bread of idleness
慷他人之慨 to be free with other’s money
远亲不如近邻 Distant kinsmen mean less than close neighbors. / A near neighbor is better than a distant cousin.
种瓜得瓜种豆得豆 You must reap what you have sown. / As you sow, so shall you reap.
乐极生悲 After joy comes sadness.
说曹操到曹操就到 Talk of the devil and the devil comes.
团结就是力量 Union is strength.
需要为发明之母 Necessity is the mother of invention.
满招损，谦受益 Haughtiness invites ruin; humility receives benefits.

恶有恶报 He that does evil shall find evil.
恶事传千里 Bad news travels quickly.
熟能生巧 Practice makes perfect.
缓兵之计 a fabian policy
缘木求鱼 to get water from a flint
适者生存 the survival of the fittest
穷寇莫追 A cornered animal is a dangerous foe.

积少成多 Every little makes a mickle.
积少成多 Every little helps.
钱可通神 Money can move even the gods.
谋事在人成事在天 Man proposes and God disposes.
学问无快捷方式 There is no royal road/shortcut to learning.
机不可失 Opportunity seldo knocks twice.

优胜劣败 The weakest goes to the wall.
声东击西 to look one way and row another
脍炙人口 in everyone’s mouth
螳臂挡车 to kick against the pricks
鞠躬尽瘁 to give the last measure of devotion
聪明反被聪明误 to suffer for one’s wisdom
旧调重谈 to harp on the same string
礼尚往来 Courtesy on one side cannot last long.
礼多必诈 full of courtesy, full of craft
声嘶力竭 He was talking at the top of his voice.

覆水难收 What’s done cannot be undone./There is no use crying over spilt milk.
转石不生苔 A rolling stone gathers no moss.
转败为胜 to convert defeat into victory
鞭长莫及 beyond one’s grasp
关公门前耍大刀 There’s no need to teach a fish to swim.

严以责己宽以待人 to be severe with oneself and lenient with others

铁石心肠 a heart of steel

听天由命 to be guided by destiny
骄者必败 Pride goes before a fall.