不打不成才
bù​dǎ​bù​chéng​cái

spare the rod and spoil the child

  • created sense approved 不打不成才 · bù​dǎ​bù​chéng​cái · spare the rod and spoil the child — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    不打不成才

    bù​dǎ​bù​chéng​cái

    spare the rod and spoil the child

    (idiom) a child will not grow up to be a useful person if they are not disciplined; spare the rod and spoil the child

    不 (literal) → 不 · bù · not 打 (literal) → 打 · dǎ · to hit 不 (literal) → 不 · bù · not 成才 (literal) → 成才 · chéng​cái · to become a talented person

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense