Jun 2008
忍无可忍 - More Than I Can Bear
13/06/08 12:30
忍无可忍
Rěn wú kě rěn
Oh boy, the past few months have been a trial, almost “more than I could bear” - the meaning of today’s idiom. Also, I created this entry yesterday, and set up the computer to upload it while I was sleeping. Got up this morning to find that the program had crashed and all my work was gone. That, reader, was definitely 忍无可忍!
如果我的老师给我更多功课，我会忍无可忍！
If my teacher gives me any more homework, it’ll be more the straw that breaks the camel’s back!
“The straw that broke the camel’s back” is a more idiomatic translation.
On top of everything, it took me over 30 attempts to get the pronunciation even close to correct. My wife is a strict mistress (I admit, my third tone is awful).
(0 Comments)
Rěn wú kě rěn
Oh boy, the past few months have been a trial, almost “more than I could bear” - the meaning of today’s idiom. Also, I created this entry yesterday, and set up the computer to upload it while I was sleeping. Got up this morning to find that the program had crashed and all my work was gone. That, reader, was definitely 忍无可忍!
如果我的老师给我更多功课，我会忍无可忍！
If my teacher gives me any more homework, it’ll be more the straw that breaks the camel’s back!
“The straw that broke the camel’s back” is a more idiomatic translation.
On top of everything, it took me over 30 attempts to get the pronunciation even close to correct. My wife is a strict mistress (I admit, my third tone is awful).
(0 Comments)
知己知彼 - Know Yourself!
06/06/08 22:49
知己知彼
Zhī jǐ zhī bǐ
Sun Tsu (孙子 - literally): “Know oneself, know one’s enemy”
The whole line is (if you want to sound particularly smart): “知己知彼，百战不殆。” You can see that the idiom is the first half of the sentence. The second half means “to come unscathed through a hundred battles.”
So... “Know oneself, know one’s enemy; come unscathed through a hundred battles.” This idiom is ~2500 years old, similar in age to “alea iacta est”, and many other Latin idioms. I say that to remind myself that Western culture also has a wealth of wise (dead) generals ripe for the quoting.
(0 Comments)
Zhī jǐ zhī bǐ
Sun Tsu (孙子 - literally): “Know oneself, know one’s enemy”
The whole line is (if you want to sound particularly smart): “知己知彼，百战不殆。” You can see that the idiom is the first half of the sentence. The second half means “to come unscathed through a hundred battles.”
So... “Know oneself, know one’s enemy; come unscathed through a hundred battles.” This idiom is ~2500 years old, similar in age to “alea iacta est”, and many other Latin idioms. I say that to remind myself that Western culture also has a wealth of wise (dead) generals ripe for the quoting.
(0 Comments)
