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Wild horses couldn't drag me away


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Posted

Hi! Does anyone know of a Chinese chengyu that would mean sth. like "Wild horses couldn't drag me away", meaning that nothing could get you away from sth or someone. For example, "When my brother watches the Super Bowl he enjoys it so much that wild horses couldn't drag him away." or "Wild horses couldn't drag me away from you." Thanks so much in advance!!!

Posted

Not much of a chengyu, but according to google (ie it's not something I knew before; I'm just good with search engines) ...

任何力量也不能使.....怎么样

the stuff where the dots are is what the wild horses can't stop you doing ;)

There's also some interesting stuff here

http://www.hjenglish.com/page/7131/

Posted

I don't know many chengyus, but I do know the following one, since it is the very first one in my chengyu book!

爱不释手

ài bú shì shŏu

Like or love sth so much that one will not let it out of one's hand.

Examples

1) 女 孩 子 总 是 对 布 娃 娃 爱 不 释 手。

nǚ háizi zŏng shì duì bùwáwa ài bú shì shŏu

2) 她 有 一 件 妈 妈 亲 手 织 的 红 毛 衣, 多 少 年 过 去 了, 她 还 常 常 拿 出 来 欣 赏, 爱 不 释 手, 可 从 来 不 穿 在 身 上。

tā yŏu yíjiàn māma qīnshŏu zhīde hóng máoyī, duōshao nián guòqu le, tā hái chángcháng náchulai xīnshăng, ài bú shì shŏu, kĕ cónglái bù chuān zài shēn shàng

3) 这 位 美 国 姑 娘 爱 不 释 手 地 摆 弄 着 一 个 玉 石 孔 雀, 说 什 么 也 舍 不 得 放 下 了。

zhè wèi mĕiguó gūniang ài bú shì shŏu de băinòngzhe yíge yùshí kŏngquè, shuō shénme, yĕ shĕbudé fàngxia le

4) 他 正 在 读 武 侠 小 说 呢, 你 看 他 那 爱 不 释 手 的 样 子。

tā zhèngzài dú wŭxiá xiăoshuō ne, nĭ kàn tā nà ài bú shì shŏu de yàngzi

Learner

P.S. For those who are interested, the book in question is 1000 Practical Chinese Idioms, by Luo Pingfeng and Zhong Zhenfen; Beijing: New World Press, 2002. I like it because it gives four examples for each chengyu, and pinyin for everything.

Posted

er.. what about this : 九牛拉不转 jiu3 niu2 la1 bu4 zhuan4 it could be a liiiiiiiiiittle bit different from what you really meant. it means that you are really willful, stubborn or determined when you do something, nobody can stop you.

and the direct translation for it could be.. (somebody) can't be pulled away even by nine oxes (when he wants to do something).

Posted

Thanks for all the possibilities. 爱不释手 is the one I was trying to recall, but now I'm hoping can make the one abt 9 oxen work in my translation to preserve the animal imagery in the original English expression.

  • 5 months later...

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