甘当绿叶

[chavalit]

I'm wondering what this means: 他是一个甘当绿叶的人

I can't find 甘当 and 绿叶 in my dictionary but from google 甘当 seems to be "willing to be". I have no idea what 绿叶 means.

[roddy]

I think, and wait and see if anyone confirms, that it means you're willing to play a supporting / background role, and not to be the star or hero - ie you're the leaves, not the flower. Would that make sense in context?

[HashiriKata]

绿叶 mean green leaves. I guess that the sentence means something like "He's a person who'd be willing to act as a foil for or in support of someone else". A native speaker may be easily able to help you with this.

(Just see Roddy's post now )

[chavalit]

Thank you all. The sentence is from an article about a movie actor who usually appears in a supporting role.

I just couldn't understand the use of "green leaves". The explanation:"ie you're the leaves, not the flower." really hit the spot for me.

[skylee]

Re 綠葉, it's from the saying 牡丹雖好，也須綠葉扶持 (there are other variants).

甘 = 甘願

當 = 擔當