成语：坐立不安
拼音：zuò lì bù ān
解释：坐着也不是，站着也不是。形容心情紧张，焦虑烦躁
翻译：on pins and needles, unable to keep calm

This chengyu describes nervous people who cannot keep calm. 坐 means “to sit” and 立 means “to stand”. 不安 means “not calm, quiet, at peace”. So put together the meaning is “neither standing nor sitting he can stay calm”. Thus the person is very nervous, excited and agitated. There is a similar English idiom: “on pins and needles”, but I have never heard of it before. For example:

  • 望着他那坐立不安的样子，我也紧张起来了。
    Seeing his agitated manner, I also start to get nervous.

Do you have another example sentence?

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