Use of 藏龙卧虎 (chengyu)?

[Ledu]

I encountered this chengyu while watching the film "Endless Journey". The detectives are searching for a serial killer and I believe they used this chengyu to show that the killer can be hiding anywhere. Could this 藏龙卧虎 be used for that purpose? In my dictionairies it seems this chengyu is to show a positive attribute or person. 
https://movie.douban.com/subject/35208463/

 

Also in the film "The Color of Money"(1986) Paul Newman is trying to tell Tom Cruise to lay low and not reveal his talents so as to get the big stakes. What chengyu could be correctly applied here?  When you are purposefully hiding low in order to get a future benefit?
https://movie.douban.com/subject/1297692/

 

Thanks for your help.

[honglam]

Well, sometimes native speaker may misuse 成语s. Although the correct usage of 成语 is a significant part of 语文 in K12 education, native speaker may put them into wrong context. So follow an authoritative dictionary(I'd recommend 新华成语词典 but that's for native speakers and is too hard for many foreign learners i'd say.) when you find something doubtful.

On 2/17/2024 at 9:59 PM, Ledu said:

When you are purposefully hiding low in order to get a future benefit?

韬光养晦、藏器待时、卧薪尝胆(This 成语 has a sense of "suffering from the humiliation first for a future benefit", based on its original story.)

[Ledu]

@honglam

 

Thank you so much for this. I think the ones you mention capture the essence of what I was trying to convey. I will study them more. 

 

I try to watch Chinese movies without English subtitles but sometimes the platforms put English subtitles and I can't remove them. 

When I watched this movie I remember seeing the phrase "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and so I looked this up in my dictionairies. I didn't know "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was a Chengyu. I watched the Ang Lee film before.  

 

I don't have access to that dictionary you mention (Xinhua Chengyu Cidian). Is it available digitally anywhere? 

The only monolingual dictionairies I own are:
Xiandai Hanyu Guifan Cidian
Duogongneng Chengyu Cidian

How about this one, it is not a Chengyu dictionairy? Xiandai Hanyu Da Cidian

 

The amount of words I know is probably 1000. I was going to try to use monolingual dictionaries only after 3000. But occassionaly I have to look up Chengyu's to understand them and so they are important even at my low level because they are used in daily life and on films and shows.

[honglam]

On 2/18/2024 at 4:33 PM, Ledu said:

The amount of words I know is probably 1000. I was going to try to use monolingual dictionaries only after 3000. But occassionaly I have to look up Chengyu's to understand them and so they are important even at my low level because they are used in daily life and on films and shows.

Well as a native speaker I could hardly give any advice on bilingual 成语 dictionary. As for 新华成语词典 I thought you could get it from anna's archive or similar origins(I have some impression of seeing those books there)? 

And, if the title of a dictionary doesn't contain 成语 the I bet it could hardly be a 成语 dictionary.

[Ledu]

Only this one 藏器待时 wasn't available in my CH-CH/ Chengyu dictionairies. But I did have some English descriptions of it. Thanks for that suggestion of Anna's Archive. I'd need to turn on some VPNs to access it though. For now I may just buy a physical copy of the dictionary you mentioned. I will see if I can can find it online now. 

 

It is not just knowing the defintion, it is knowing how to use it and understanding it. The information you gave was very helpful. I appreciate it. 

 

Just found these 2 chengyu dictionaries online:

https://chengyu.qianp.com/cy/藏器待时

https://www.zdic.net/hans/藏器待时

Edited February 18, 2024 at 09:19 AM by Ledu
found resources

[cncorrect]

On 2/18/2024 at 4:33 PM, Ledu said:

The amount of words I know is probably 1000.

Actually, native Chinese speakers rarely count their vocabulary. That's how you learn English. Instead, they focus on the characters they know. Each character represents a basic word, so it's essential to learn them first. If you master 1000 characters, you'll be well on your way.

[Ledu]

Thanks. I will try my best. I try to learn them based on radicals and components. Also I am considering reading a book called "Remembering the Hanzi". Otherwise, I will flashcard and read textbooks until I can internalize them. 

 

[shawky.nasr]

On 2/17/2024 at 3:59 PM, Ledu said:

藏龙卧虎

汉英成语熟语词典:

1 lit.hidden dragons and crouching tigers / a lair of dragons and tigers.

2 able men living in hiding / talented men remaining in concealment / an unnoticed (or undiscovered) talent.

 

On 2/18/2024 at 10:33 AM, Ledu said:

I don't have access to that dictionary you mention (Xinhua Chengyu Cidian). Is it available digitally anywhere? 

There are official apps.  Best Chinese Dicts

 

If you have iPhone or any apple device, there are good Chinese idioms dictionary, "商务成语大词典" you can add from setting.

 

On 2/17/2024 at 3:59 PM, Ledu said:

show a positive attribute or person

Yes, 用于褒义

[laoyumi]

We Chinese often use 藏龙卧虎  to describe a group or a place, where you can find hidden outstanding talents. 

For example:

你们公司真是藏龙卧虎啊！

这个城市出过很多成功的商人，藏龙卧虎！