鼎力相助

Pronunciation: dǐng lì xiāng zhù Literal meaning: Great strength mutual help

Origin & Usage

A 鼎 is a bronze ritual tripod, heavy enough that lifting one is the standard Chinese image of enormous strength; 鼎力 borrows that weight for the help being described. The important thing is who may say it. Together with 相助, mutual (相) help (助), the phrase is honorific toward the helper, so it is used of what someone else did for you, or when asking them for help — never of assistance you provided yourself. Claiming it for your own efforts applies to yourself a word reserved for praising others, and it lands badly. It belongs to formal thanks, letters and speeches rather than to casual conversation.

Examples

English: "The community came together to provide strong support for the new initiative."

Chinese: 社区鼎力相助，支持这个新的倡议。