(idiom) mutual exchange of assistance / to benefit from each other's strengths and make up each other's shortfalls / to reciprocate with material assistance / to scratch each other's back
one's age, according to the traditional Chinese method of reckoning (i.e. the number of Chinese calendar years in which one has lived) – In this system, a person's age at birth is one, and increases by one at the beginning of the first solar term 立春[Li4 chun1] each year, rather than on one's birthday. / contrasted with 實歲|实岁[shi2 sui4]
lit. the Eight Immortals cross the sea, each showing his own special talent (idiom) / fig. (of each individual in a group) to give full play to one's unique capabilities
to put one's hands behind one's head, fingers interlaced / to hold one's head in one's hands (in dismay, fright etc) / to cover one's head with one's hands (for protection)
(idiom) to be on very good terms with each other / to hit it off with sb / to be passionately in love with each other / to carry on intimately with / (of trading, conflict etc) to be in full swing
mutually shirking responsibilities (idiom) / each blaming the other / passing the buck to and fro / each trying to unload responsibilities onto the other
(orthography) inconsistent words (e.g. "through", "bough" and "rough", where "-ough" is not pronounced the same in each case) / inconsistent characters (e.g. 流[liu2], 梳[shu1] and 毓[yu4], which are pronounced differently from each other even though they all have the same notional phonetic component)
lit. (of fish) to moisten each other with spittle (when out of the water) (idiom) / fig. to share meager resources and support each other in times of difficulty
to erect (a tent etc) / to prick up (one's ears) / to raise (one's eyebrows) / to stick up (one's thumb) / to turn up (one's collar) / (of a bird) to puff up (one's feathers)
to change one's tune / to modify one's previous remark / to change the way one addresses sb (as when one marries and starts to call one's husband's parents 爸爸[ba4 ba5] and 媽媽|妈妈[ma1 ma5])
(a line from a poem by the Tang poet Liu Yuxi 劉禹錫|刘禹锡[Liu2 Yu3 xi1]) one gains very little insight into one's enemy from a hundred victories, but he who breaks his arm three times will be a good doctor / (fig.) one learns more from one's failures than from one's successes
first year of the sixty-year cycle (where each year is numbered with one of the 10 heavenly stems 天干[tian1 gan1] and one of the 12 earthly branches 地支[di4 zhi1]) / the sixty-year cycle
only have ... / there is only ... / (used in combination with 才[cai2]) it is only if one ... (that one can ...) (Example: 只有通過治療才能痊愈|只有通过治疗才能痊愈[zhi3 you3 tong1 guo4 zhi4 liao2 cai2 neng2 quan2 yu4] "the only way to cure it is with therapy") / it is only ... (who ...) (Example: 只有男性才有此需要[zhi3 you3 nan2 xing4 cai2 you3 ci3 xu1 yao4] "only men would have such a requirement") / (used to indicate that one has no alternative) one can only (do a certain thing) (Example: 只有屈服[zhi3 you3 qu1 fu2] "the only thing you can do is give in")
to belong to / to be affiliated to / to fall under the jurisdiction of / a place where one feels that one belongs / one's final destination (where one need look no further)
(of alcohol, love etc) to go to one’s head / (of an idea, a song etc) to get into one's head / to capture one's attention / (old) (of a girl on her wedding day) to start wearing one's hair in a bun (rather than a plait)
lit. to hope one's son becomes a dragon (idiom) / fig. to long for one' s child to succeed in life / to have great hopes for one's offspring / to give one's child the best education as a career investment
Confucian moral injunctions of fidelity / piety to one's parents, respect to one's older brother, loyalty to one's monarch, faith to one's male friends
lit. viewing the sky with a basin on one's head / it is hard to get a clear view of the sky while carrying a platter on one's head / fig. it is hard to get on in one's career while encumbered by family obligations / one can't perform a major task while bothered by other duties
four Confucian injunctions 孝悌忠信 (for men), namely: piety 孝 to one's parents, respect 悌 to one's older brother, loyalty 忠 to one's monarch, faith 信 to one's male friends / the four Confucian virtues for women of morality 德[de2], physical charm 容, propriety in speech 言 and efficiency in needlework 功
(idiom) as one climbs higher on the path of righteousness, one faces ever greater challenges from evil / no sooner does one overcome one obstacle than another arises
to bend to a task and spare no effort unto one's dying day (idiom) / striving to the utmost one's whole life / with every breath in one's body, unto one's dying day
lit. only one end of the barber's pole is hot (idiom) / fig. one-sided enthusiasm / one party is interested, but the other, not so much / (Note: In former days, street barbers carried their equipment on a pole, with tools and a stool at one end and a brazier at the other.)
lit. to eat meat from one's bowl, then put down one's chopsticks and scold one's mother (idiom) / fig. to complain despite being privileged / to be ungrateful for what one has been given
treating everyone the same, regardless of individual differences / one-size-fits-all approach / (typesetting) block paragraphs (no indenting, and blank space between each paragraph)
acupuncture point (any point on any meridian) / category of 12 specific acupuncture points near the wrist or ankle, each lying on a different meridian (one of five categories collectively termed 五輸穴|五输穴)
lit. the story of the broken mirror of Princess Lechang 樂昌公主|乐昌公主[Le4chang1 Gong1zhu3] (In the tale, the princess and her husband, fearing separation during the turbulence of war, broke a bronze mirror in half. They each kept one half as a token, with the promise to reunite by matching the pieces together. They were indeed separated, but eventually reunited, with the mirror playing a crucial role in their reunion.) (idiom) / fig. the reunion of separated lovers or the restoration of a relationship
one's affiliation (i.e. the organization one is affiliated with) / subordinate (i.e. those subordinate to oneself) / belonging to / affiliated / under one's command
of / ~'s (possessive particle) / (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun) / (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis) / (used after a noun, verb or adjective to form a nominal expression, as in 皮革的[pi2ge2 de5] "one made of leather" or 跑堂兒的|跑堂儿的[pao3tang2r5de5] "a waiter (literally, one who runs back and forth in a restaurant)" or 新的[xin1 de5] "new one") / also pr. [di4] or [di5] in poetry and songs
(idiom) (of one's circumstances) beyond one's control / unable to do anything about it / (of one's actions) not subject to conscious control (i.e. done in spite of oneself)
lit. to fly one's banner on a solitary tree (idiom) / fig. to act as a loner / to stand out / to develop one's own school / to have attitude of one's own
(TV or movie) blooper / continuity error / (theater) to flub one's lines / unintended exposure of a body part / to be exposed (of a scheme or trick) / to reveal sth one intended to conceal through a slip of the tongue / to blow one's cover
lit. an easy drive on a familiar path (idiom) / fig. experience makes progress easy / a task that is so familiar one can do it with one's hand tied behind one's back
constellation (arch., now 星座) / one of the 28 constellations of traditional Chinese astronomy and astrology / motion of stars since one's birth (predetermining one's fate in astrology)
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