(adverbial expression indicating that the attention of the subject of the verb is focused on what they are doing, not distracted by anything else) / just ...ing (and nothing else)
to apply (sth hitherto used in a different context) / to use (rules, systems, models etc copied from elsewhere) (often implying that they aren't suited to the new situation) / to borrow (a phrase) / (Tw) (computing) to apply (a style, formatting etc)
韭菜
jiǔ cài
garlic chives (Allium tuberosum), aka Chinese chives / (fig.) retail investors who lose their money to more experienced operators (i.e. they are "harvested" like garlic chives)
when things reach an extreme, they can only move in the opposite direction (idiom)
邯郸学步
Hán dān xué bù
to copy the way they walk in Handan (idiom) / slavishly copying others, one risks becoming a caricature
迷魂汤
mí hún tāng
potion given to souls before they are reincarnated, which makes them forget their previous life (aka 孟婆汤[meng4 po2 tang1]) / magic potion / (fig.) bewitching words or actions
不分伯仲
bù fēn bó zhòng
lit. unable to distinguish eldest brother from second brother (idiom) / they are all equally excellent / nothing to choose between them
传呼电话
chuán hū diàn huà
neighborhood telephone, with sb in charge of notifying others when they receive a call
撒科打诨
sā kē dǎ hùn
to intersperse comic dialogue (as they do in operas)
水落归槽
shuǐ luò guī cáo
spilt water returns to the trough (idiom) / fig. people remember where they belong
养老送终
yǎng lǎo sòng zhōng
to look after one's aged parents and arrange proper burial after they die
今不如昔
jīn bù rú xī
things are not as good as they used to be
不一致字
bù yī zhì zì
(orthography) inconsistent words (e.g. "through", "bough" and "rough", where "-ough" is not pronounced the same in each case) / inconsistent characters (e.g. 流[liu2], 梳[shu1] and 毓[yu4], which are pronounced differently from each other even though they all have the same notional phonetic component)
冻容
dòng róng
"youth freezing", Chinese girls beginning anti-ageing treatments as young as two years old in the hope they will never look old
前事不忘，后事之师
qián shì bù wàng , hòu shì zhī shī
don't forget past events, they can guide you in future (idiom) / benefit from past experience
Since they have come, we should make them comfortable (idiom). Since we're here, take it easy. / Since this is so, we should accept it. / Now we have come, let's stay and take the rough with the smooth. / If you can't do anything to prevent it, you might as well sit back and enjoy it.
横刀夺爱
héng dāo duó ài
to rob sb of sth they cherish (idiom)
窃国者侯，窃钩者诛
qiè guó zhě hóu , qiè gōu zhě zhū
steal the whole country and they make you a prince, steal a hook and they hang you (idiom, from Daoist classic Zhuangzi 莊子|庄子[Zhuang1 zi3])
窃钩者诛，窃国者侯
qiè gōu zhě zhū , qiè guó zhě hóu
steal a hook and they hang you, steal the whole country and they make you a prince (idiom, from Daoist classic Zhuangzi 莊子|庄子[Zhuang1 zi3])
Go your own way, let others say what they like. (popular modern cliche) / Do it my way.
黄鼠狼给鸡拜年
huáng shǔ láng gěi jī bài nián
Beware of suspicious folk bearing gifts, they are sure to be ill-intentioned. (idiom)
非居住国国民个人人权宣言
Declaration on the Human Rights of Individuals Who are not Nationals of the Country in which They Live
将被判刑人移交其国籍国服刑公约
Convention on Transfer of Sentenced Persons to Execute the Sentence in the State of which they Are Citizens
越描越黑
yuè miáo yuè hēi
lit. the more you touch things up, the darker they get / fig. to only make matters worse
两国相争，不斩来使
liáng guó xiāng zhēng , bù zhǎn lái shǐ
when two kingdoms are at war, they don't execute envoys (idiom)
流水席
liú shuǐ xí
banquet where guests arrive at various times and are served with food as they arrive
何不食肉糜
hé bù shí ròu mí
lit. "Why don't they eat meat?" (said by Emperor Hui of Jin 晉惠帝|晋惠帝[Jin4 Hui4 di4] when told that his people didn't have enough rice to eat) / fig. (of people from higher class etc) to be oblivious to other people's plight
不是一家人不进一家门
bù shì yī jiā rén bù jìn yī jiā mén
people who don't belong together, don't get to live together (idiom) / marriages are predestined / people marry because they share common traits
两国相争，不斩来使
liǎng guó xiāng zhēng , bù zhǎn lái shǐ
when two kingdoms are at war, they don't execute envoys (idiom)
千里马常有，而伯乐不常有
qiān lǐ mǎ cháng yǒu , ér Bó Lè bù cháng yǒu
lit. there are many swift horses, but very few who can spot them (idiom) / fig. many have talent, but few can recognize talent when they see it
有没有
yǒu méi yǒu
(before a noun) Do (you, they etc) have ...? / Is there a ...? / (before a verb) Did (you, they etc) (verb, infinitive)? / Have (you, they etc) (verb, past participle)?
死宅
sǐ zhái
die-hard otaku (sb who hardly ever emerges from their home, where they play games, watch movies etc)
边控
biān kòng
border control (abbr. for 邊境控制|边境控制[bian1 jing4 kong4 zhi4]) / to place sb on a border control list (a list of people to be detained if they attempt to enter or leave the country)
三个和尚没水喝
sān gè hé shang méi shuǐ hē
lit. three monks have no water to drink (idiom) / fig. everybody's business is nobody's business / (If there is one monk, he will fetch water for himself. If there are two, they will fetch water together. But if there are three or more, none will take it upon himself to fetch water.)
医之好治不病以为功
yī zhī hào zhì bù bìng yǐ wéi gōng
doctors like to treat those who are not sick so that they can get credit for the patient's "recovery" (idiom)
烟花爆竹
yān huā bào zhú
fireworks (i.e. pyrotechnic devices, not the display they produce)
一家人不说两家话
yī jiā rén bù shuō liǎng jiā huà
lit. family members speak frankly with one another, not courteously, as if they were from two different families (idiom) / fig. people don't need to be deferential when they ask a family member for help / people from the same family should stick together (and good friends likewise)
搭售
dā shòu
to sell an item only as part of a bundle (thereby forcing consumers to buy goods they do not want) / to sell on a tie-in basis
赔钱货
péi qián huò
unprofitable goods / item that can only be sold at a loss / daughter (so called in former times because daughters required a dowry when they married)
孟婆
Mèng pó
(Chinese folk religion) Meng Po, goddess who gives a potion to souls before they are reincarnated, which makes them forget their previous life / (Chinese folk religion) Meng Po, goddess of the wind
孟婆汤
mèng pó tāng
potion given to souls by Meng Po 孟婆[Meng4 po2] before they are reincarnated, which makes them forget their previous life
所言非虚
suǒ yán fēi xū
(after a pronoun or name) what (you, they etc) say is true
tā men
