一錢不值 (Yī qián bù zhí) (1) not worth a penny(2) utterly worthless From https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/bookView.jsp?ID=1094 “Not worth a cent” originally appeared in the Records of the Grand Historian – Volume 107 – Biographies of the Marqueses of Weiqi and Wu’an. In this, it recorded that there was a general named Guan Fu (灌夫) in the Western…
Month: June 2024
058. The Lagoon of the Three Pascuals
From Cuentos Populares en Chile (Chilean Folktales) – by Ramón A. LavalPart 2 – Myths, Traditions, Things (Mitos, Tradiciones, Casos) 058. The Lagoon of the Three Pascuals (La Laguna De Las Tres Pascualas) (Told by D. Francisco Vásquez.)Back in the days when the Spaniards [still] ruled over Chile, there lived near Concepción, in a beautiful…
Yī nuò qiān jīn (一諾千金 – 一诺千金)
一諾千金 (Yī nuò qiān jīn) Lit. a promise worth one thousand in gold (idiom);Fig. a promise that must be kept From https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/bookView.jsp?ID=69 “A promise worthed 1,000 taels of gold” was originally “Ji Bu‘s promise”. According to “Records of the Grand Historian – Volume 100 – Biographies of Ji Bu and Luan Bu – Ji Bu”,…
057. The Pudahuel Lagoon
From Cuentos Populares en Chile (Chilean Folktales) – by Ramón A. LavalPart 2 – Myths, Traditions, Things (Mitos, Tradiciones, Casos) (Told in 1911 by the young student D. Ramón Fernández, 15 years old, from Santiago.) 057. The Pudahuel Lagoon (La Laguna de Pudahuel) Many years ago, when the railroad line linking Santiago and Valparaíso had…
Yī míng jīng rén (一鳴驚人 – 一鸣惊人)
一鳴驚人 (Yī míng jīng rén) Lit. A cry that astonishes the worldFig. To amaze the world with a single brilliant feat (idiom); an overnight celebrity From https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/bookView.jsp?ID=59 According to “Han Feizi – Illustrations of Lao Tzŭ‘s Teachings”, in the Spring and Autumn Period, even though King Zhuang of Chu had been on the throne for…
056. The Cave of the Child
From Cuentos Populares en Chile (Chilean Folktales) – by Ramón A. LavalPart 2 – Myths, Traditions, Things (Mitos, Tradiciones, Casos) 056. The Cave of the Girl Child (La Cueva de la Niña) On the beach of Bucalemu there is, on a hill, a cavern called the Cave of the Girl Child, in which lives an…
Yī máo bù bá (一毛不拔 – 一毛不拔)
一毛不拔 (Yī máo bù bá) From https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/bookView.jsp?ID=1 The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period were a time when a hundred schools of thought contended for influence. Many philosophers put forward their own ideas hoping that they might be of help in governing the country. During the Warring States Period, Yang Zhu‘s theory…
055. The Taguatagua Lagoon
From Cuentos Populares en Chile (Chilean Folktales) – by Ramón A. LavalPart 2 – Myths, Traditions, Things (Mitos, Tradiciones, Casos) 055. The Taguatagua Lagoon (La Laguna de Taguatagua) (Told by the dentist D. Luis Barahona Novoa in 1910.)When don Javier Errázuriz was draining the Taguatagua lagoon (about 60 years ago, more or less), the inhabitants…
Yī jiàn shuāng diāo (一箭雙雕 – 一箭双雕)
一箭雙雕 (Yī jiàn shuāng diāo) Lit. killing two hawks (condors) with one arrow From https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/bookView.jsp?ID=1330 From “History of the Northern Dynasties – Biography of Zhangsun Sheng (長孫晟)”: Once there were two condors hovering above, fighting over pieces of meat, so he gave two arrows to Sheng, asking him to shoot them down. Sheng urged his…
054. The Mermaid of Aculeo
From Cuentos Populares en Chile (Chilean Folktales) – by Ramón A. LavalPart 2 – Myths, Traditions, Things (Mitos, Tradiciones, Casos) 054. The Mermaid of Aculeo (La Sirena De Aculeo) In the lagoon of Aculeo a girl appears every night at midnight to comb her hair with a golden comb. Those who passed near her and…