不鳴則已，一鳴驚人
bù​míng​zé​yǐ​yī​míng​jīng​rén

to amaze with a single feat

  • created sense approved 不鸣则已，一鸣惊人/不鳴則已，一鳴驚人 · bù​míng​zé​yǐ​yī​míng​jīng​rén · to amaze with a single feat — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    不鸣则已，一鸣惊人 / 不鳴則已，一鳴驚人

    bù​míng​zé​yǐ​yī​míng​jīng​rén

    to amaze with a single feat

    silent for a long time then suddenly achieving greatness; literally translated as not crying out at first, but once one does, it startles everyone

    不 (literal) → 不 · bù · not 鸣 (literal) → 鸣/鳴 · míng · to cry 则 (literal) → 则/則 · zé · then 已 (literal) → 已 · yǐ · to stop ， (non_chinese) 一 (literal) → 一 · yī · [as soon as] 鸣 (literal) → 鸣/鳴 · míng · to cry 惊人 (literal) → 惊人/驚人 · jīng​rén · astonishing

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

    created sense