What does the Chinese idiom "A monkey that jumped out to pluck a peach" mean? (lemy.nl)

submitted 9 months ago by Sticker@lemy.nl to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

13 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I read translations of Chinese fanfics that have a lot of obscure idioms.
I can't find the meaning of these idioms on the internet.

Maybe there are some people here who are experts in this?

The idiom from the title is one character's reflection on the people who defeated their enemies.

This character thought, "They think they're strong, but they're like the monkey that jumped out to pluck the peach."

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] Slatlun@lemmy.ml 26 points 9 months ago

No kind of expert on the idiomatic use, but the literal translation makes it feel like the monkey is going after something without a plan for where to land. I would expect it to indicate impulsivity

[-] intensely_human@lemm.ee 3 points 9 months ago

Jumping from the branch, to where the peach is hanging, without anything to land on.

this post was submitted on 20 Jan 2024

69 points (98.6% liked)

Asklemmy

43733 readers

1117 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy 🔍

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

Open-ended question
Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

Lemmyverse: community search
sub.rehab: maps old subreddits to fediverse options, marks official as such
!lemmy411@lemmy.ca: a community for finding communities

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 5 years ago

MODERATORS