才高八斗

Pronunciation: cái gāo bā dǒu Literal meaning: Talent high eight dou

Origin & Usage

Xie Lingyun, a poet not troubled by modesty, once measured out the world's literary talent aloud: if all of it came to one 石, then Cao Zhi alone held eight 斗 of it, he himself held one, and everyone else who had ever lived divided the last. Ten 斗 make one 石, so the allocation is exact and the flattery of Cao Zhi is total. The phrase kept Cao Zhi's eight (八) 斗 and lost the rest of the arithmetic: talent (才) standing high (高) by that measure. Literary or intellectual brilliance specifically, not competence in general.

Examples

English: "His knowledge of literature and philosophy is unmatched, making him a true scholar."

Chinese: 他的文学和哲学知识才高八斗，堪称真正的学者。