Traduction :
to aim to carve a swan and get a semblance of a duck (idiom); to fail utterly in trying to copy something; to get a reasonably good, if not perfect, result
Référence :
刻：刻画；鹄：天鹅；类：似，象；鹜：鸭子。画天鹅不成，仍有些象鸭子。比喻模仿的虽然不逼真，但还相似。
Origine :
《后汉书·马援传》：“效伯高不得，犹为谨敕之士，所谓刻鹄不成尚类鹜者也。效季良不成，陷为天下轻薄子，所为画虎不成反类狗者也。”
Annotation :
刻鹄类鹜1
1. kèhúlèiwù :
[EN] to aim to carve a swan and get a semblance of a duck (idiom); to fail utterly in trying to copy something; to get a reasonably good, if not perfect, result
