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 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：行尸走肉
发音：xíng shī zǒu ròu
解释：行尸：可以走动的尸体；走肉：会走动而没有灵魂的躯壳。
比喻不动脑筋，不起作用，糊里糊涂过日子的人。

A quite figurative chengyu if you tend to watch horror films. 尸 like in 尸体 is a dead body/ corpse. 肉 is flesh and means that there is no soul and no feelings in this context. 行 and 走 both mean walk. So literally it means “walking corpse and flesh”. Basically it means that the person walks around and behaves like a death man, because he feels so numb. This can be after a huge shock, or because he is depressed or sick or heart-broken. If it’s over a longer period, it describes a very confused unsocial and passive person who is just sick and tired of life.
For example:

• 他女朋友刚和他分手，你瞧他现在那副行尸走肉的样子，真可怜。
  His girlfriend just broke up with hum, now look at him, he is like a walking corpse. So pitiful!
• 自从没有考上理想的大学以后，他整天就如同行尸走肉。
  Since he has failed to enter the university he wanted to, he behaves like a walking corpse.

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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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成语：夜长梦多
拼音：yè cháng mèng duō
解释：比喻时间一拖长，情况可能发生不利的变化
翻译：The longer you wait, the more unexpected, undesirable things can occur.

A very straightforward chengyu, which literally means “a long night has many dreams”. Although sleeping long and dreaming is usually something agreeable, in this idiom it commonly refers to a negative event (like nightmares).
For example:

• 这件事儿应该赶紧解决，免得夜长梦多。
  We should quickly get this done, so that nothing unwanted happens meanwhile.

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成语：与众不同
拼音：yǔ zhòng bù tóng
解释：跟大家不一样
翻译：different from the rest, standing out from the masses

That’s probably what a lot of parents are hoping their children to become. 众 are the masses of people, which can already be seen in the structure of the character. Three people 人 together! 与 means 和, 跟 and in this context it means from the masses, as the masses. 不同 is “not the same”. All together it is “Not the same as the masses”. So you see the Chinese and English order are a bit reversed. Furthermore this chengyu is mostly used in a positive sense.
Example:

• 很多家长都希望他们的孩出类拔萃，与众不同.
  Many parents are hoping that their children become outstanding and different from the rest.
• 他的打扮经常与众不同.
  He often wears very individual clothes.

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成语：过眼云烟
拼音：guò yǎn yún yān
解释：从眼前飘过的云烟。比喻很快就消失的事物。

Literally translated this chengyu means “clouds and smoke passing in front of your eyes”. It is a metaphor used to describe things that disappear quickly. Most of the times I encounter it in the context of reading and studying (in a negative sense…). Also used on emotions.
Examples:

• 有时我读书没法集中精力，刚看过的就如过眼云烟，真郁闷~
  Sometimes when I’m studying I cannot focus. The things I just read immediately fade away, so annoying…
• 以前的伤痕，如今已成为过眼云烟。
  The pain from yesterday, has already gone away today.

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成语：五颜六色
发音：wǔ yán liù sè
解释：形容色彩复杂或花样繁多。引伸为各色各样。
翻译：very colorful, many colors

This chengyu has the Noun 颜色 (color) in it. It is split up onto the second and forth place, which is something we will encounter often. Then there are the numbers 五 (five) and 六 (six). Literally it means “five and six colors”, but in a wider sense it just means “very colorful, many colors”.
For example:

• 春天我们的院子里开着五颜六色的花朵。
  In spring many colorful flowers blossom in our garden.
• 年轻人喜欢穿着五颜六色的衣服。
  The young people like to wear colorful clothes.

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