Favorite Proverbs

I like the phrase 之乎者也 (zhi1hu1zhe3ye3), which as far as I can tell is a nonsense combination of four of the most common grammatical particles of Classical Chinese. It’s used sarcastically to describe someone’s writing as being unnecessarily wordy and full of archaisms. In other words, to call them a smartarse.

知易行難 zhi1 yi4 xing2 nan2
Know easy do/implement difficult

(Easier said than done)

Tou1 Ji1 Mo1 Gou3

Steal the chicken and touch the dog–means you’re a lazy bastard-I heard an old KMT General scream this at a classmate years ago in martial arts class.

Kind of a variation is Sha1 Ji1 Jing3 Ho2
“Kill the chicken to scare the monkey” My favorite. It means to kill a scapegoat to warn your enemies/ or to make an example by disciplining someone