lit. to attend to one thing and lose sight of another (idiom) / fig. to be unable to manage two or more things at once / cannot pay attention to one thing without neglecting the other
一了百了
yī liǎo bǎi liǎo
once the main problem is solved, all troubles are solved / death ends all one's troubles
有始有终
yǒu shǐ yǒu zhōng
where there's a start, there's a finish (idiom) / to finish once one starts sth / to carry things through / I started, so I'll finish.
见异思迁
jiàn yì sī qiān
to change at once on seeing sth different (idiom) / loving fads and novelty / never satisfied with what one has
下不为例
xià bù wéi lì
not to be repeated / not to be taken as a precedent / just this once
again / once more / re- / second / another / then (after sth, and not until then) / no matter how ... (followed by an adjective or verb, and then (usually) 也[ye3] or 都[dou1] for emphasis)
lit. to kill the donkey when the grinding is done (idiom) / to get rid of sb once he has ceased to be useful
有头有尾
yǒu tóu yǒu wěi
where there's a start, there's a finish (idiom) / to finish once one starts sth / to carry things through / I started, so I'll finish.
鸡犬升天
jī quǎn shēng tiān
lit. poultry and dogs rise to Heaven (idiom) / fig. to ride on sb else's success / Once one man gets a government position, all his cronies get in too / Once sb has cracked the problem, every Tom, Dick and Harry can do it
一年被蛇咬十年怕井绳
yī nián bèi shé yǎo shí nián pà jǐng shéng
bitten by a snake in one year, fears the well rope for ten years (idiom) / once bitten twice shy
一蹴可几
yī cù kě jǐ
to succeed at the first try (idiom) / easy as pie / one can do it at once
日月重光
rì yuè chóng guāng
the sun and moon shine once more / fig. things get back to normal after an upheaval
渤澥桑田
bó xiè sāng tián
lit. blue seas where once was mulberry fields (idiom, from 史記|史记[Shi3 ji4], Record of the Grand Historian) / time brings great changes / life's vicissitudes
lit. set out and it becomes spring (idiom) / to effect a miracle cure (of medical operation) / to bring back the dead / once it starts, everything goes well
覆水难收
fù shuǐ nán shōu
spilt water is difficult to retrieve (idiom) / it's no use crying over spilt milk / what's done is done and can't be reversed / the damage is done / once divorced, there's no reuniting
一之为甚
yī zhī wéi shèn
once is more than enough (idiom)
偶一为之
ǒu yī wéi zhī
to do sth once in a while (idiom) / to do sth more as an exception than the rule
女大十八变
nu:3 dà shí bā biàn
lit. a girl changes eighteen times between childhood and womanhood (idiom) / fig. a young woman is very different from the little girl she once was
尽收眼底
jìn shōu yǎn dǐ
to take in the whole scene at once / to have a panoramic view
lit. when a man achieves the Dao, his poultry and dogs rise to Heaven (idiom) / fig. to ride on sb else's success / Once one man gets a government position, all his cronies get in too / Once sb has cracked the problem, every Tom, Dick and Harry can do it
一朝被蛇咬，十年怕井绳
yī zhāo bèi shé yǎo , shí nián pà jǐng shéng
once bitten by a snake, ten years in fear of a well rope / once bitten, twice shy (idiom)
一言既出，驷马难追
yī yán jì chū , sì mǎ nán zhuī
lit. once said, a team of horses cannot unsay it (idiom) / a promise must be kept
不经一番风霜苦，难得腊梅吐清香
bù jīng yī fān fēng shuāng kǔ , nán dé là méi tǔ qīng xiāng
Without once passing through the winter's cold and wind, where would the sweet spring fragrance come from?
lit. the cart in front overturns, a warning to the following cart (idiom) / fig. draw lesson from the failure of one's predecessor / learn from past mistake / once bitten twice shy
后车之鉴
hòu chē zhī jiàn
lit. warning to the following cart (idiom) / don't follow the track of an overturned cart / fig. draw lesson from the failure of one's predecessor / learn from past mistake / once bitten twice shy
德法年鉴
Dé Fǎ Nián jiàn
Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher (published once in 1844 by Karl Marx and bourgeois radical Arnold Ruge)
"shikumen" style architecture: traditional (ca. 19th century) residences with courtyards, once common in Shanghai
船到江心，补漏迟
chuán dào jiāng xīn , bǔ lòu chí
It's too late to plug the leak once ship is in the middle of the river. (idiom)
好马不吃回头草
hǎo mǎ bù chī huí tóu cǎo
lit. a good horse doesn't turn around and graze the same patch again (idiom) / fig. once you've moved on, don't go back again (romantic relationship, job etc) / leave the past behind
一写多读装置
Write Once, Read Many
一心二用
yī xīn èr yòng
to do two things at once (idiom) / to multitask / to divide one's attention
used in place-names, e.g. 溵水 / was once the name of the Shahe River 沙河, Henan, and 溵州 / was a Tang Dynasty prefecture
开弓没有回头箭
kāi gōng méi yǒu huí tóu jiàn
lit. once you've shot the arrow, there's no getting it back (idiom) / fig. once you started sth, there's no turning back / to have to finish what one started / to be determined to reach one's goals in spite of setbacks
齐聚一堂
qí jù yī táng
to get together all at once
好了伤疤忘了疼
hǎo le shāng bā wàng le téng
to forget past pains once the wound has healed (idiom)
děng