Learn advanced Chinese idioms like 「畫龍刻鵠」, following the path from basic characters to phrases, all with this free resource.
Today, we explore the idiom 「畫龍刻鵠」. Below, we’ll cover its meaning and practical uses.
It is a metaphor for aiming too high and ultimately achieving nothing. Same as “painting a tiger and carving a swan”.
The Mandarin pronunciation of this idiom is :
huà lóng kè hú
while its Cantonese pinyin is :
wa2/waak6 lung4 hak1 huk6
There’s no shortage of Chinese idioms, each offering unique meanings and ways to use them. This guide is here to assist you as you improve your understanding of the language.
