成语：只可意会 不可言传
拼音：zhǐ kě yì huì bù kě yán chuán
解释：只能用心去揣摩体会，没法用话具体地表达出来
翻译：can only be perceived, cannot be explained;
can only be experienced, cannot be put in words

This Chinese idiom is such a typical answer that I almost always get when I ask for the meaning of a Chinese expression. So I thought I’ll share it with all other Chinese learners, who certainly also already heard or will hear of this saying. The first half 只可意会 means it “can only be perceived”. 意会 means to experience or perceive. It implies that it isn’t directly spoken but rather experienced. The second half means “cannot be put forth in words”. You know that 言 stands for “language” and 传 means “to pass”
As an example, if you ask for the meaning of something, like, say 尴尬 or 内疚 or 丢脸 or another weird adjective or expression that is not easy to explain. And the person you asked only knows Chinese, so he also can’t translate it and tell you it means “awkward” and “sense of guilt” and “to lose one’s face”. So most likely he will answer 这个…只可意会不可言传 which just isn’t any help for us people trying to learn the language^^
But still I have to say 只可意会 不可言传 does apply to many special Chinese expressions that can’t be translated so easily. In this case only reading and communicating a lot helps, I guess…

So anyway, I hope you could understand this idiom and don’t let it discourage you and your Chinese studies ;)

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Here is a very cute new singer from Hong Kong. His name is Pakho (funny name…) or Chinese 周柏豪. His very first album “beginning” just contains very few songs. This is my favorite out of it. It’s called 同天空 which means “the same sky”. It’s in Cantonese, so I’ll just put the Chinese lyrics and and English translation here:
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成语：谈天说地
发音：tán tiān shuō dì
解释：指随便谈论，漫无边际。
翻译：to shoot the breeze

Here we have a Chinese idiom that means “to talk casually” in English. 谈 说 both means to chat, talk, discuss. 天 地 mean the world or everything. This Chengyu again has the structure verb-noun-verb-noun. The English meaning would be “to talk casually”. Or there is also the similar English idiom “to shoot the breeze”. In German there is also a very similar expression “über Gott und die Welt reden”. Other Chinese expressions you could use are 聊天 or 闲聊.
Example:

• 在火车上大家没事儿干就开始谈天说地。
  On the train we had nothing to do, so we were just shooting the breeze.

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Here is another song from Jay Chou’s new album 我很忙 (I’m very busy). It’s called 甜甜的 which means sweetness. It’s rather fast, so the words are not so easy to understand and the lyrics are very long, but it’s a really good-mood song :) Enjoy!
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成语：石沉大海
发音：shí chén dà hǎi
解释：石头沉到海底。比喻从此没有消息。
翻译：lit.: Like a stone sinking into the ocean.

While practising calligraphy I came over this funny Chengyu, which literally means “a stone sinking into the ocean”. It is very easy to imagine, and after looking it up in the dictionary, I learned that it is an idiom for not getting news. For example if you don’t hear anything from your friends it can be compared to “a stone sinking in the ocean”. Or if you sent an application somewhere, but don’t get any reply, it’s also like “a stone sinking in the ocean”. All right, I hope you could understand the meaning.
This is the example from the dictionary:

• 我写了几封信去催，都石沉大海，至今不见回音。
  I wrote several letters urge, but they were all like stones sinking in the ocean, and I didn’t get an answer until now.

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This is such beautiful ballad by Jay Chou from his new album 我很忙 (literally “I’m very busy”, but I heard it’s called “On the Run”). The song is called 蒲公英的约定 which means “the dandelion’s promise”. I really love it^_^ So here are the Chinese lyrics:
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成语：画龙点睛
发音：huà lóng diǎn jīng
解释：原形容梁代画家张僧繇作画的神妙。后多比喻写文章或讲话时，在关键处用几句话点明实质，使内容生动有力。
翻译：to add the crowning touch

Here we have another Chengyu just like 千里送鹅毛 which has to do with an animal and which is easy to understand from the first sight. Watch out for the structure, it is verb-noun-verb-noun, which we encounter often. 画龙 means painting a dragon. And 点睛 means adding eyes to it. So in this case 点 does not mean “point” but is a verb instead. Literally translated 画龙点睛 means “painting a dragon and adding the eyes”.

The Chengyu originates from a great painter named zhāng sēng yāo (张僧繇) whom many people were watching while he was painting dragons at a temple. The dragons were very beautiful, only were they missing eyes. So the surrounding people curiously asked: “Why don’t they have eyes?” He mysteriously answered, that if they have eyes, they will fly away! Since everyone just regarded him in disbelief, he lifted his hands again and added a pair of eyes. In this moment that dragon… whuushhh…. indeed became alive, and flew away!! (Magic….) and all the people were stupefied.

This is the origin of the idiom 画龙点睛. It is used to describe that by adding only a tiny little detail, the whole work becomes much better and lively. Just like the dragon who became alive. In German you would see “das Sahnehäubchen” or “das gewisse Etwas”. In English there is a similar saying: “do add the crowning touch”. Often this Chengyu is used to describe, of course painting, but also essays and literature work, speeches, decoration and more and more.

For example:

• 这盏灯对我的房间的装饰起了画龙点睛的作用。
  This light adds the crowning touch to my room decoration.

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Another beautiful old song by Jay Chou from his album from 2005: November’s Chopin (11月的萧邦) The song 发如雪 (fā rú xuě) means “hair like snow” and reminds me a bit of his new song 青花瓷. Hm, it’s a bit hard to imagine for me how black hair can be like snow… but well, the music video is really awesome. It was of course directed by Jay himself and it has many historic scenes with a very beautiful girl in a red dress ;-) And for all Chinese learners, have fun pronouncing the 啦儿啦 啦儿啦 啦儿啦儿啦 (Lar lar lar lar…)
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