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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• 活到老，学到老 (3)

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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• 聪明一世，糊涂一时 (2)
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This is a very common Chinese expression. 太阳从西边出来了 means “the sun is rising in the west”. It is used to describe a very unusual event. Something that one normally would never expect to happen, just like the fact that the sun would rise in the west.

For example when the husband never cooks, and one day he cooks a delicious dinner. Then his wife would say:
哟，今儿太阳从西边出来了？

Or when her son, who never does his homework voluntarily, one day suddenly does them right after dinner:
哇，你还知道做作业？今天太阳可从西边出来了！

• 百闻不如一见，百见不如一干 (0)
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成语：渴望不可及
拼音：kě wàng bù kě jí
解释：渴望不可及：渴望，急切想要得到；及，达到，得到；急切想要的东西却不能得到
翻译：something you long for, but which is unreachable

The first half of this chengyu 渴望 means to long for something, to desire something. Don’t confuse it with the chengyu 可望不可及, which has the exact same pronunciation, but where 可望 means that you are able to see it. 不可及 means that it is unreachable. Put together it means “longing for something, but unable to reach it”. It also exists as 渴望而不可及. You can use this chengyu in many senses. When I searched for it, funnily this is what I found most of the times:

• 美女可望而不可及

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俗语：活到老，学到老
拼音：huó dào lǎo，xué dào lǎo
翻译：One is never too old to learn. => Lifelong Learning

Here is an often used proverb: 活到老，学到老. It is very straightforward and literally translated it means: “Live until you grow old, learn until you grow old”. Or “One is never too old to learn”. It’s like this lifelong-education bla, that I often read about.
For example:

• 我们应该活到老，学到老。
  We should make lifelong learning a habit / We should never stop learning
• 大家都知道活到老学到老的道理，可是很多人毕业了就不再主动学习了。
  We all know about the concept of lifelong learning, but many people stop to educate themselves after they graduated from school.

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俗语：功到自然成
拼音：gōng dào zì rán chéng
解释：下了足够功夫，事情自然就会取得成效
翻译：With enough effort, success will come naturally.

Today’s proverb is 功到自然成. 功 is the effort, as you might now from 功夫, 下功夫. 成 is the success, like 成效, 成就. So it means “once effort is there, success will come naturally”. Reminds me of yesterday’s Slashdot article The Secret to Raising Smart Kids which basically states that “功到自然成”.
Other news: Since my proverbs and chengyu are getting more and more, I’ll try to tag them for better looking up.
Moving on to the examples:

• 别以为自己太傻了，没有天赋。应该相信功到自然成的的道理。
  Don’t think you are stupid and untalented. Believe that you can achieve success with sufficient effort.

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俗语：聪明一世，糊涂一时
拼音：cōng míng yī shì ， hú tú yī shí
翻译：Even smart people can have a momentary lapse in judgment.

A funny proverb that I came over today. 聪明 is smart. 糊涂 means confused, silly. 一世 means always in this case and 一时 means for a short time. So put together it means “Always smart, but confused for a moment” or “even smart people can have a momentary lapse in judgment”.
As an example I found this:

• 五年来的美国聪明一世，糊涂一时[news.sina.com]

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俗语：百闻不如一见，百见不如一干
拼音：bǎi wén bù rú yī jiàn ， bǎi jiàn bù rú yī gàn
翻译：It’s better to see something with your own eyes instead of only hearing about it. And it’s better to do something instead of only seeing it.

I just came across this proverb which I like alot. 闻 means to hear, as you can see, there is an ear (耳) in the character. 不如 means “is not so good as”. So literally translated, the meaning is “Hearing something a hundred times is not so good as seeing it once. And seeing it a hundred times is not so good as doing it once.” So being practical and active is better than staying passive or depending or others.

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