随珠弹雀
suí​zhū​tán​què

gains cannot offset losses

  • created reference approved 随珠弹雀/隨珠彈雀 → 得不偿失/得不償失 (synonym) — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    随珠弹雀 / 隨珠彈雀 suí​zhū​tán​què

    得不偿失 / 得不償失 dé​bù​cháng​shī

    synonym

    Changed: source (simp), source (trad), source pinyin, target (simp), target (trad), target pinyin, type

    created reference

  • created sense approved 随珠弹雀/隨珠彈雀 · suí​zhū​tán​què · gains cannot offset losses — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    随珠弹雀 / 隨珠彈雀

    suí​zhū​tán​què

    gains cannot offset losses

    Literally "to shoot a sparrow with the Sui pearl"; describes using something of great value for a trivial purpose, or more generally, when the cost of an action far outweighs the potential reward.

    随 (literal) → 随/隨 · suí · Sui 珠 (literal) → 珠 · zhū · pearl 弹 (literal) → 弹/彈 · tán · to play; to flick 雀 (literal) → 雀 · què · sparrow

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

    created sense