无事献殷勤，非奸即盗
wú​shì​xiàn​yīn​qín​fēi​jiān​jí​dào

beware of Greeks bearing gifts

  • created sense approved 无事献殷勤，非奸即盗/無事獻殷勤，非姦即盜 · wú​shì​xiàn​yīn​qín​fēi​jiān​jí​dào · beware of Greeks bearing gifts — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    无事献殷勤，非奸即盗 / 無事獻殷勤，非姦即盜

    wú​shì​xiàn​yīn​qín​fēi​jiān​jí​dào

    beware of Greeks bearing gifts

    one who is unaccountably solicitous is likely hiding evil intentions; literally, 'one who offers favors for no reason is either up to no good or trying to steal something'

    无 (literal) → 无/無 · wú · to not have 事 (literal) → 事 · shì · matter 献殷勤 (literal) → 献殷勤/獻殷勤 · xiàn​yīn​qín · to ingratiate oneself ， (non_chinese) 非 (literal) → 非 · fēi · not be 奸 (literal) → 奸 · jiān · offense 即 (literal) → 即 · jí · namely 盗 (literal) → 盗/盜 · dào · thief

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

    created sense