123个常见中国成语英译

上学的时候，老师鼓励我们写作文时可以适当使用成语，能够提升作文的语言水平。这个道理在英文写作中也是适用的。不过，有些中文的成语在英语中如果表达不当，反而会让人误解。所以，一起来学学常见中文成语的英译很有必要！

1.爱屋及乌 Love me, love my dog.

2.百闻不如一见 （眼见为实）Seeing is believing.

3.比上不足比下有余 worse off than some, better off than many; to fall short of the best, but be better than the worst.

4.笨鸟先飞 A slow sparrow should make an early start.

5.不眠之夜 white night

6.不以物喜不以己悲 not pleased by external gains, not saddened by personal losses

7.不遗余力 spare no effort; go all out; do one's best

8.不打不成交 No discord, no concord.

9.拆东墙补西墙 rob Peter to pay Paul

10.辞旧迎新 bid farewell to the old and usher in the new; ring out the old year and ring in the new

11.大事化小，小事化了 try first to make their mistake sound less serious and then to reduce it to nothing at all

12.大开眼界 open one's eyes; broaden one's horizon; be an eye-opener

13.国泰民安 The country flourishes and people live in peace

14.过犹不及 going too far is as bad as not going far enough; beyond is as wrong as falling short; too much is as bad as too little

15.功夫不负有心人 Everything comes to him who waits.

16.好了伤疤忘了疼 once on shore, one prays no more

17.好事不出门恶事传千里 Good news never goes beyond the gate, while bad news spread far and wide.

18.和气生财 Harmony brings wealth.

19.活到老学到老 One is never too old to learn.

20.既往不咎 let bygones be bygones

21.金无足赤，人无完人 Gold can't be pure and man can't be perfect.

22.金玉满堂 Treasures fill the home.

23.脚踏实地 be down-to-earth

24.脚踩两只船 sit on the fence

25.君子之交淡如水 the friendship between gentlemen is as pure as crystal; a hedge between keeps friendship green

26.老生常谈，陈词滥调 cut and dried, cliché，stereotype

27.礼尚往来 Courtesy calls for reciprocity.

28.留得青山在，不怕没柴烧 Where there is life, there is hope.

29.马到成功 achieve immediate victory; win instant success

30.名利双收 gain in both fame and wealth

31.茅塞顿开 be suddenly enlightened

32.没有规矩，不成方圆 Nothing can be accomplished without norms or standards.

33.每逢佳节倍思亲 On festive occasions more than ever one thinks of one's dear ones far away.It is on the festival occasions when one misses his dear most.

34.谋事在人，成事在天 The planning lies with man, the outcome with Heaven. Man proposes, God disposes.

35.弄巧成拙 be too smart by half; Cunning outwits itself

36.拿手好戏 masterpiece

37.赔了夫人又折兵 throw good money after bad

38.抛砖引玉 a modest spur to induce others to come forward with valuable contributions; throw a sprat to catch a whale

39.破釜沉舟 cut off all means of retreat；burn one's own way of retreat and be determined to fight to the end

40.抢得先机 take the preemptive opportunities

41.巧妇难为无米之炊 If you have no hand you can't make a fist. One can't make bricks without straw.

42.千里之行始于足下 a thousand-li journey begins with the first step--the highest eminence is to be gained step by step

43.前事不忘后事之师 Past experience, if not forgotten, is a guide for the future.

44.前人栽树,后人乘凉 One generation plants the trees in whose shade another generation rests.One sows and another reaps.

45.前怕狼,后怕虎 fear the wolf in front and the tiger behind, hesitate in doing something

46.强龙难压地头蛇 Even a dragon (from the outside) finds it hard to control a snake in its old haunt - Powerful outsiders can hardly afford to neglect local bullies.

47.强强联手 win-win co-operation

48.瑞雪兆丰年 A timely snow promises a good harvest.

49.人之初，性本善 Man's nature at birth is good.

50.人逢喜事精神爽 Joy puts heart into a man.

51.人海战术 huge-crowd strategy

52.世上无难事，只要肯攀登 Where there is a will, there is a way.

53.世外桃源 a fictitious land of peace away from the turmoil of the world;

54.死而后已 until my heart stops beating

55.岁岁平安 Peace all year round.

56.上有天堂，下有苏杭 Just as there is paradise in heaven, there are Suzhou and Hangzhou on earth

57.塞翁失马，焉知非福 Misfortune may be an actual blessing.

58.三十而立 A man should be independent at the age of thirty. At thirty, a man should be able to think for himself.

59.升级换代 updating and upgrading (of products)

60.四十不惑 Life begins at forty.

61.谁言寸草心，报得三春晖 Such kindness of warm sun, can't be repaid by grass.

62.水涨船高 When the river rises, the boat floats high.

63.时不我待 Time and tide wait for no man.

64.杀鸡用牛刀 break a butterfly on the wheel

65.实事求是 seek truth from facts; be practical and realistic; be true to facts

66.说曹操,曹操到 Speak of the devil and he comes.

67.实话实说 speak the plain truth; call a spade a spade; tell it as it is

68.实践是检验真理的唯一标准 Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth.

69.山不在高，有仙则名 No matter how high the mountain is, its name will spread far and wide if there is a fairy;

70.韬光养晦 hide one's capacities and bide one's time

71.糖衣炮弹 sugar-coated bullets

72.天有不测风云 Anything unexpected may happen. a bolt from the blue

73.团结就是力量 Unity is strength.

74.跳进黄河洗不清 Even if one jumped into the Yellow River, one can not wash oneself clean--there's nothing one can do to clear one's name

75.歪风邪气 unhealthy practices and evil phenomena

76.物以类聚，人以群分 Birds of a feather flock together.

77.往事如风 The past has vanished (from memory) like wind; What in past, is past

78.望子成龙 hold high hopes for one's child

79.屋漏又逢连阴雨 Misfortunes never come singly. When it rains it pours.

80.文韬武略 military expertise; military strategy

81.唯利是图 draw water to one's mill

82.无源之水,无本之木 water without a source, and a tree without roots

83.无中生有 make/create something out of nothing

84.无风不起浪 There are no waves without wind. There's no smoke without fire.

85.徇私枉法 bend the law for the benefit of relatives or friends

86.新官上任三把火 a new broom sweeps clean

87.虚心使人进步,骄傲使人落后 Modesty helps one go forward, whereas conceit makes one lag behind.

88.蓄势而发 accumulate strength for a take-off

89.心想事成 May all your wish come true

90.心照不宣 have a tacit understanding; give tacit consent; tacit understanding

91.先入为主 First impressions are firmly entrenched.

92.先下手为强 catch the ball before the bound

93.像热锅上的蚂蚁 like an ant on a hot pan

94.现身说法 warn people by taking oneself as an example

95.息事宁人 pour oil on troubled waters

96.喜忧参半 mingled hope and fear

97.循序渐进 step by step

98.一路平安，一路顺风 wish you a safe / good trip / journey

99.严以律己,宽以待人 be strict with oneself and lenient towards others

101.有情人终成眷属'Jack shall have Jill, all shall be well.

102.有钱能使鬼推磨 Money makes the mare go./ Money talks.

103.有识之士 people of vision

104.有勇无谋 use brawn rather than brain

105.有缘千里来相会 Separated as we are thousands of miles apart, we come together as if by predestination.

106.与时俱进 advance with times

107.以人为本 people oriented; people foremost

108.因材施教 teach students according to their aptitude

109.欲穷千里目，更上一层楼 to ascend another storey to see a thousand miles further; Ascend further, were you to look farther; Would eye embrace a thousand miles? Go up, one flight.

110.欲速则不达 Haste does not bring success./More haste, less speed.

111. 优胜劣汰 survival of the fittest

112.英雄所见略同 Great minds think alike.

113.冤家宜解不宜结 Better make friends than make enemies.

114.冤假错案 cases in which people were unjustly, falsely or wrongly charged or sentenced; unjust, false or wrong cases

115.一言既出，驷马难追 A real man never goes back on his words.

116.招财进宝 Money and treasures will be plentiful

117.债台高筑 become debt-ridden

119.众矢之的 target of public criticism

120.知己知彼,百战不殆 Know the enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles with no danger of defeat.

121. 纸上谈兵 be an armchair strategist

122.纸包不住火 Truth will come to light sooner or later.

123.左右为难 between the devil and the deep blue sea