Popular Chinese Idioms

October 10, 2019

If you don't know any Chinese idioms yet, the following 9 popular Chinese idioms will be a great way to get started.

In this blog, we want to share with you the origins of these Chinese idioms, what they mean, as well as how to use them in a sentence.


What is a 成语 in Chinese?

In Chinese, 成语 chéngyǔ are idioms, sayings, or idiomatic phrases. They are also referred to as "four-character idiom" because they often consist of a fixed set of four Chinese characters, taken come from ancient literature. As old as they are, 成语 chéngyǔ are still used in modern Chinese today as a figure of speech.

Where do Chinese idioms come from?

The majority of Chinese idioms can be traced back to ancient Chinese literature, from as old as the pre-Qin dynasty (221BC). This means that Chinese idioms can be up to thousands of years old, even though they are still commonly used by locals on a daily basis in modern China.

How many Chinese idioms are there in the Chinese language?

Although the exact number varies from one source to another, there are approximately 5,000 to 20,000 Chinese idioms.

How are Chinese idioms used?

Chinese idioms are generally used to describe or emphasize a situation, idea, or emotion without expressing it explicitly. Because Chinese idioms usually come from classic Chinese literature, they can make a speech sound more interesting and thus are a good way to show off your Chinese language skills.

Depending on the idea behind each specific Chinese idiom and the context in which it's being used, a Chinese idiom may be used in place of a verb, an adjective, an adverb, or a noun.

Now, that you know more about 成语， it's time to learn the most popular ones.

张三李四 Zhāngsān lǐsì (Any Tom, Dick, or Harry)

Literally: Zhang Three, Li Four

This phrase dates back to the Song Dynasty, appearing in multiple pieces of literature from the age.

Nowadays, besides hearing this idiom in full, you may see 张三 or 李四 used as filler names for text or dialogues. Grammatically, 张三李四 Zhāngsān lǐsì is usually used as a noun in a sentence, as shown in the following example.

Example:

这件事找专家来做，不要找张三李四。
Zhè jiàn shì zhǎo zhuānjiā lái zuò, bùyào zhǎo zhāngsānlǐsì.
Find a professional to do this, don't just use any Tom, Dick, or Harry.

乱七八糟 Luànqī bāzāo (At sixes and sevens; in great disorder)

Literally: Disorder of seven, eight messes

This idiom refers to two particularly chaotic periods in Chinese history: the Rebellion of the Seven States of the Western Han Dynasty and the Rebellion of the Eight Kings during the Western Jin Dynasty.

To cut a long story short, there was a lot of fighting and bloodshed during both.

In terms of grammar, 乱七八糟 Luànqī bāzāo is typically used as an adjective to describe something messy.

Example:

哎呀，我的房间乱七八糟的。我要收拾收拾。
Āiyā, wǒ de fángjiān luànqībāzāo de. Wǒ yào shōushí shōushí.
Ugh, my room is a mess. I need to organize it. or
Ugh, my room is messy. I need to organize it.

二话不说 Èrhuà bù shuō (To not think twice)

Literally: A second word is not said

Dating back to the 1940s, this idiom finds its origins in the work of famous author Lao She.

Example:

她二话不说就把钱借给她爸爸了。
Tā èrhuà bù shuō jiù bǎ qián jiè gěi tā bàbale.
She lent her father the money without a second thought.

In this example, 二话不说 Èrhuà bù shuō is used as an adverb as it describes how the action is being done.

三心二意 Sānxīn èryì (To be of two minds; to be distracted)

Literally: Three hearts, two desires

This idiom hails from the Yuan Dynasty. It seems people have always been indecisive.

Example:

考试的时候不要三心二意 。
Kǎoshì de shíhòu bùyào sānxīn'èryì.
When testing, don't let your mind wander.

不可思议 Bùkěsīyì (Unimaginable)

Literally: Cannot be imagined

We can thank Buddhism for this idiom! In religious contexts, the phrase refers to the subtle boundaries of reality that language and thought cannot describe.

Example:

妈妈抛弃孩子是不可思议的。
Māmā pāoqì háizi shì bùkěsīyì de.
It is unimaginable for a mother to abandon her child.

不见不散 Bùjiàn bú sàn (Be there or be square)

Literally: Not seen, not leaving This idiom first appears in Qing Dynasty literature. It is also the title of a 1998 Chinese rom-com.

Example:

今天晚上八点一起吃饭，不见不散。
Jīntiān wǎnshàng bā diǎn yīqǐ chīfàn, bùjiàn bú sàn.
We're eating together at 8:00 tonight, be there or be square.

自由自在 zì yóu zì zài (free and at ease, carefree, leisurely)

Literally: Unrestrained freedom

This Chinese idiom finds its origins in a story by the Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi. As the story goes, Huizi, a friend of the philosopher saw him pounding on a pot, singing and laughing, and curiously asked "You're supposed to be a sage, a master of freedom. Why are you pounding on a pot and singing?" Zhuangzi replied: "(...)When I want to stop, I stop; when I want to pound, I pound. That's what it means to be 自由自在 (...)".

In some contexts, the Chinese idiom 自由自在 could be interpreted as "footloose".

Example:

等你长大了，你可以自由自在地做你想做的事情。
Děng nǐ zhǎng dàle, nǐ kěyǐ zìyóu zìzài dì zuò nǐ xiǎng zuò de shìqíng
When you grow up, you will be free to do whatever you want.

莫名其妙mò míng qí miào (for no reason, baffling)

Literally: Inexplicable and strange

This Chinese idiom can also be traced back to a conversation between the Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi and his friend Huizi. In the story, Huizi asks Zhuangzi to describe the sound of a tree falling in the forest when there is nobody around to hear it. At loss for words, Zhuangzi responded “莫名其妙，其俗乎!”, which can be translated as "it's inexplicable, and yet so common!"

Example:
爸爸莫名其妙地生起气来。
Bàba mòmíngqímiào dì shēngqǐ qì lái.
Dad got angry for no apparent reason.

马马虎虎 Mǎmǎhǔhǔ (So-so; vague; careless)

Literally: Horse horse, tiger tiger

This Chinese idiom comes from the story of an artist who could not decide what to draw, either a horse or tiger, and ended up drawing the body of a horse onto the tiger's head. This confused his two sons. One of them killed a neighbor's horse, thinking it was a tiger, so the artist had to reimburse the horse's owner using his whole life savings and was left destitute. The other son attempted to ride a tiger thinking it was a horse and died.

Nowadays, 马马虎虎 is used to describe carelessness and sometimes, figuratively, to say "so-so" in Chinese.

Example:

安全检查不能马马虎虎。
Ānquán jiǎnchá bùnéng mǎmǎhǔhǔ.
Safety checks cannot be done carelessly.

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About the Author

Eden has been learning Chinese since 2008. She fell in love with the language, food, and culture and never looked back! Eden lived in China for six years, including in Harbin, Beijing, and Dali.

Eden- Author