Sep 13
成语：笨鸟先飞
拼音：bèn niǎo xiān fēi
解释：行动笨拙的鸟要先飞。比喻能力差的人怕落后，做事比别人先动手。
翻译：a slow sparrow should make an early start
Literally translated this means “the stupid bird flies first”. It doesn’t have such a negative meaning as it suggests. All it means is that someone with lower abilities should start off earlier, because he knows he is behind the rest, so he is ready to do more work in order to catch up. An appropriate English translation is “a slow sparrow should make an early start”.
For example:
- 自己能力差，只能笨鸟先飞，多下点功夫。
If your skill is low, you have to work harder, because a slow sparrow should make an early start.
This one seems a little like the English “The early bird catches the worm” I the English one the meaning is a little different but I guess it also implies that the ability of the bird doesn’t matter so much as being there first.
Yeah, it does have some parallels, especially the idea about the early bird. However yours is missing out that it’s a “stupid bird” and in the Chengyu it is rather the idea that he wants to catch up with the others, and not that he is going to be the winner or the first, I think.