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

• 渴望不可及 (1)
• 望穿秋水 wàng chuān qiū shuǐ (0)
• 天长地久 tiān cháng dì jiǔ (1)

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

• 过眼云烟 guò yǎn yún yān (0)
• 谈天说地 - tán tiān shuō dì (2)
• 行尸走肉 xíng shī zǒu ròu (0)

成语：一生一世
拼音：yī shēng yī shì
解释：一辈子

Nope, this is not “One World, One Dream” Olympic Fever. This chengyu is much older and would rather be “One Life, One World”. Hey, that doesn’t sound bad either! However, 一 means more “the whole” rather than “one”. Anyway, this just means “the whole life” or “always and forever”. And what to we expect to last always and forever? Of course it’s love again. For example in this song:

• 我用一生一世来爱你 一生一世照顾你 (王建杰 - 一生一世)
  I’ll love and care for you for my whole life.

• 过眼云烟 guò yǎn yún yān (0)
• 谈天说地 - tán tiān shuō dì (2)
• 行尸走肉 xíng shī zǒu ròu (0)

成语：天涯海角
拼音：tiān yá hǎi jiǎo
解释：形容极远的地方，或相隔极远

This chengyu also starts with 天 like the previous one (天长地久). 天 and 海 are heaven and the sea. 涯 and 角 mean border, edge, end. This chengyu also has a metaphorical meaning: “to the border of heaven and the edge of the sea”. It describes a very long distance, especially between two people, or a very distant place. For example:

• 自从他出国了以后，他们俩就隔着天涯海角的距离。
  Since he went abroad, they were separated ?? (Can anyone help me with this one? My English skills have come to an end :/ )
• 我愿意天涯海角都随你去。
  I want to follow you to the furthest place on earth. (This is from the song 勇气 )

• 过眼云烟 guò yǎn yún yān (0)
• 谈天说地 - tán tiān shuō dì (2)
• 行尸走肉 xíng shī zǒu ròu (0)

成语：天长地久
拼音：tiān cháng dì jiǔ
解释：跟天和地存在的时间那样长。形容时间悠久。也形容永远不变（多指爱情）。

This chengyu is not hard to understand. 天 and 地 are heaven and earth. 长 and 久 mean a long time. So it is a metaphor meaning “as long and heaven and earth existed”. It is used to describe eternity, especially in love. For example:

• 你相信天长地久的爱情吗？
  Do you believe in eternal love?

• 过眼云烟 guò yǎn yún yān (0)
• 谈天说地 - tán tiān shuō dì (2)
• 行尸走肉 xíng shī zǒu ròu (0)

成语：一见钟情
拼音：yī jiàn zhōng qíng
解释：解释 钟：集中；钟情：爱情专注。指男女之间一见面就产生爱情。也指对事物一见就产生了感情。

This chengyu probably exists in every language. It means “love on the first sight”. 一见 means one look, first sight. 钟情 means to have strong emotions. Watch out that 钟 is written as in ‘clock’, and not 终(zhong1).
Its common usage is as love between two persons, but it can also mean a strong attachment towards a thing.
Example:

• 你相信一见钟情的爱吗?
  Do you believe in love on the first sight?

• 过眼云烟 guò yǎn yún yān (0)
• 谈天说地 - tán tiān shuō dì (2)
• 行尸走肉 xíng shī zǒu ròu (0)

成语：望穿秋水
拼音：wàng chuān qiū shuǐ
解释：秋水是比喻人的眼睛。眼睛都望穿了。形容对远地亲友的殷切盼望。

I like this chengyu a lot, because it’s so lyrical. Literally translated it would mean “looked through autumn water”. Autumn water (秋水) is a metaphor for one’s eyes. So as a whole it means that you are looking forward to something so much that your eyes become - well like 望穿了. It is used to describe something long awaited, especially when meeting friends or relatives.
So here’s how I found this chengyu: It was a little before summer vacation, in which I planned a trip with some friends to China. I was really looking forward to that, especially because I would meet some good friends and relatives in China. So one day being bored and searching a title for my profile, I was looking through my dictionary (成语词典) and there we go, I was stuck by those four wonderfully expressive chinese characters that were henceforward engraved in my mind forever ;-)

Here are some examples (例子), please correct me if I am wrong, or add your own example:

• 这是我望穿秋水的约会。
  This is my long awaited date.
• 望穿秋水，终于可以与你相见了。
  After long awaiting, I can finally see you.

• 过眼云烟 guò yǎn yún yān (0)
• 谈天说地 - tán tiān shuō dì (2)
• 行尸走肉 xíng shī zǒu ròu (0)