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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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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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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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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成语：千里送鹅毛
拼音：qiān lǐ sòng é máo
解释：比喻礼物虽轻，但情意深厚

A not so known, but still very straightforward Chengyu where it helps to know the story behind it. Literally translated it means to bring a swan feather over 1000 miles as a present. 里 (Li) is an old Chinese unit of length that corresponds to 500 m.

The Chengyu story behind it is that during the Tang dynasty many people bought valuable presents from far away to the emperor. So there happened to be one man from a very remote region who wanted to present a very beautiful white swan to the emperor. During the long trip the swan got quite dirty, so when he arrived at a lake, he took the swan out of the cage so that it could…eh… take a bath. But to his big anger the swan flew away!!! (What a surprise…) So after a phase of despair he picked up a few left feathers and decided to see the emperor anyway. At the palace he felt quite uncomfortable among all the other visitors with big presents. When it was his turn he said 礼轻情意重，千里送鹅毛 which means that my present is little but my sympathy is grand, this is why I am bring you this feather from so far away. To his fortune the emperor forgave him and even had to laugh at his cleverness.

So this Chinese idiom is used to describe that even though a present looks small, the effort and the sentiments behind it where big.

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成语：南山可移
发音：nán shān kě yí
解释：南山：终南山。比喻已经定案，不可更改。

南山 refers to the mountain 终南山 which is a mountain near the city of Xi’An (西安). 可移 means it can be moved. This literally the whole chengyu means “the ZhongNan mountain can be moved”. But of course again there is another layer of meaning under it, so lets dive into history again… (Maybe you’re not a fan of history, just like me, but for learning Chinese idioms it really helps!)

So… during the Tang dynasty there was a official named Li Yuan Hong (李元纮) who was a very fair-minded and also a bit stubborn person. He worked as a judge near the capital Chang An (长安) which is known as Xi’An (西安) nowadays. At that time there also lived a princess named Taiping (太平公主, lit. her name means pacific). She was quite powerful and touchy princess, so that many people preferred to not get too close to her and anger her.
One day a monk visited Li Yuan Hong to tell on Princess Taiping, because she stole a very valuable stone with carvings from his temple. (I believe the stone was from a mill, correct me if I’m wrong…) He officially decided that Princess Taiping was wrong and had to give back the stone, which of course terribly angered her and also shocked his superior, who urged him to change the court ruling. But Li Yuan Hong only retorted that the Nan mountain may be moved, but this decision canot be changed. (-> 南山或可改移，此判终无摇动).

As you could see this Chinese idiom refers to decisiveness and rightful justice, where you must not change the decision later on.

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成语 一饭千金
发音：yī fàn qiān jīn
解释：比喻厚厚地报答对自己有恩的人。
翻译：One bowl of rice is worth a thousand gold coins
-> showing deep gratitude to one’s benefactor

For this chengyu, it is helpful to know the story behind it, in order to understand its meaning. From the words and the literal meaning 一饭 means one bowl of rice. 千金 means thousand gold coins. Thus by adding a verb it could be translated into “one bowl of rice is worth a thousand gold coins”.
This Chinese idiom is already about 2000 years old. It happened during the Han dynasty where a young man named Han Xin (韩信) had to live his childhood in poverty due to the early death of his parents. He was often fishing at the river in order to earn some money to buy food. A woman that was washing clothes there saw the starved boy and felt very sorry for him. Thus, she often brought him some food, for which the boy was very thankful. Later, it happened that Han Xin became a very respected and successful general who helped to strengthen the Han dynasty. He did not forget the woman who gave him food when he needed, so he called her and insisted on giving her a present of thousand gold coins to show his deep gratitude for her.
This is the origin of the chengyu 一饭千金 which means that one shows deep gratitude to the person who once offered help when needed.
To find out more about Han Xin, who is sometimes regarded as “Alexander the Great of the East”, Wikipedia has an informative article.

Link:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_Xin

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成语：坐怀不乱
发音：zuò huái bú luàn
解释：形容男子在两性关系方面作风正派。源于春秋时鲁国的柳下惠将受冻的女子裹于怀中，没有发生非礼行为。

I was just browsing through the book 古文观止 and I found this chengyu: 坐怀不乱. It’s hard to make sense of it, so I’ll tell you the story behind it first: It was during the spring and autumn period, where a man named 柳下惠 (liǔ xià huì) stayed in a hostel overnight. At that time another girl with little clothing came to spend the night, too. Instead of showing some, ehm, inappropriate behavior, he was a real gentleman and gave her his cloak and even held her in his arms the whole night, without harassing her. Hach, what a nice guy ;)

坐怀 in this context means to sit and hold tight. Just picture him sitting and holding the girl in a protective manner. 不乱 means not confused/ not disordered. In this context it means that he doesn’t have all kinds of thoughts. Maybe you have heard of the chengyu 胡思乱想.
So the chengyu 坐怀不乱 is used to describe a very gentleman-like guy, who shows very respectful or appropriate behavior to girls. Since it is hard to make sense of the separate words, I hope it was helpful to hear the story behind it.

Finally some examples:

• 不知道世上真的有像柳下惠那般坐怀不乱的男人吗？
  I wonder if there are really gentlemen that are as handsome and kind as Liu Xiahui.

Similar sounding Chinese idioms:

• 坐立不安 zuò lì bù ān

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