Chinese sayings for the workplace

[ouyangjun]

At work I often like to throw around famous Chinese sayings as they apply to work.  The first time used it will get a good snicker, but they get the point across and are fun to use.  I'm sure there are some gems out there and I love to see what some of the people have used.  Here are the common ones that I throw around at the work place.

 

实事求是 - to seek truth from the facts.  I've used it when people want to make emotional decisions, letting them know that we should pull the data (the facts) analyze it and make decisions from there.

 

This one was an old saying, but become household during the Mao era and later with Deng.

 

摸着石头过河 - to cross a river by feeling the stones.  I use this when we are working on a project (continuous improvement or something new) and we don't have a super clear idea of what the intermediary steps are, but we know what we want the outcome to be.  in Lean manufacturing I've heard it referred to as making your way through the fog.  But when in China 入乡随俗 and might as well use some Chinese sayings.

 

That one was made famous by Deng his reform efforts.

 

天高皇帝远 - the sky is high and the emperor is far away.  Working for a multi-national with our HQ's in the USA, the emperor is far away... so sometimes we should just do what we know is right instead of asking questions first.

 

This one is an old Chinese proverb from way back when.

 

不管是白猫黑猫，提到老鼠就是好猫 - it doesn't matter if the cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice it's a good cat.  I've used this when talking about suppliers or customers... normally in a situation that may not look good on the surface, but can get the job done.

 

If I recall correctly this one came back to bite Deng in the behind during the cultural revolution, as they said he was too much of a capitalist. 

 

凉拌炒鸡蛋 - cold veggies with dressing and a fried egg.  This is one I will only use with people at work that I have a real good relationship with.  If someone says to me in a situation that has no immediate answer, "怎么办", I may respond with “凉拌炒鸡蛋”.  Don't use this one unless you're friends with the person.

 

So those are the common ones that I use.  Interested to hear what other good ones may be able to be used in a work situation.

[Carl Chen]

To me, I hardly hear the second saying, 摸著石頭過河, in daily conversation.

But the rest of saying is common for sure.

 

As for the fourth one, I thought this version "不管黑貓白貓,能抓老鼠的就是好貓" is more common in Taiwan.

I think "提" is a typo. I usually use "捉" or "抓" which means "catch."

[ouyangjun]

@Carl - you're right, good catch.  提 is a typo... should've been 捉.  

[roddy]

Well, if you're liking your Deng quotes, I bet there are plenty of opportunities to tell people to 多干实事、少说空话 .

 

I was going to correct you and say the cat quote was from the Southern Tour, but Wikipedia traces it back to '61. 

[roddy]

Another one for over-worked staff:

又要马儿跑，又要马儿不吃草

[Michaelyus]

抛砖引玉 - love the mixture of self-deprecation and hopeful vicarious aggrandisement that this expression implies. Best accompanied by a dash of 只 and 而已 in my opinion. Has a lot more taste than the equivalent "[just] putting it out there".

[roddy]

Oh, another useful one is 不敢恭维. Which is basically a way of saying something or someone is rubbish, but it's not your place to say so. 

[skylee]

Re #5, the version over here is 又要馬兒好，又要馬兒不吃草, which sounds better as 好 rhymes with 草 (PS - in Cantonese).

[rexh]

Hi I'm new to the forum and wonder if someone can help.  I'm trying to see if there is a 成语 equivalent for the English saying "admission by omission"?  Admission by omission means that by specifically not saying something you are admitting something else.  E.g. if someone cooks a meal for you and and asks you "how was the steak"? and you reply with "the vegetables were incredible!" then the inferred meaning is that you did not enjoy the steak. By omitting to address the question directly you are admitting to not liking something.  It is usually used in reference to something negative which you don't want to say - so you omit talking directly about it.  Thanks for any help you can give!

[skylee]

Consider 顧左右而言他.

[roddy]

塞翁失马，安知非福 (or 焉知, I'm seeing both?) - the story is here, you should get a giggle by proudly using it next time someone's complaining their stapler's gone missing...

[imron]

That's right, it could kick off a chain of events that ends up with them lounging on the beach at a fancy Mexican resort.

[roddy]

Oh, and it'd be a GREAT one to chuck around in the middle of a chess game. 

[roddy]

Wondering if anyone can help me bring to mind a saying that has escaped me - it's for when you're asking someone to take up a position, but to make it more polite it's something like inviting someone to stoop to accept a low post? Any ideas?

[skylee]

屈就？

[roddy]

I think that's it! I was sure there was a four-character thing, but have completely failed to find it. Think I must have been misremembering.