画蛇添足

Pronunciation: huà shé tiān zú
Literal meaning: Draw snake add feet

Origin & Usage

The ancient parable tells of an artist who lost a wine-drinking contest because he spent extra time adding legs to his snake drawing (画蛇添足). The story entered common usage during the Han Dynasty as a warning against ruining sufficiency through unnecessary additions. Today it reminds us how overelaboration often diminishes rather than enhances.

Examples

English: "The excessive explanations only confused the simple concept"

Chinese: 过多的解释反而让简单的概念变得混乱

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