画蛇添足
画蛇添足 (huà shé tiān zú) literally means “draw snake add feet” and expresses “ruin by adding extras”. This idiom is used when describing situations involving wisdom and learning.
Also searched as: hua she tian zu, hua she tian zu,画蛇添足 meaning, 画蛇添足 in english
Ruin by adding extras
Pronunciation: huà shé tiān zú Literal meaning: Draw snake add feet
Origin & Usage
The Strategies of the Warring States tells of retainers given a single flagon of wine and agreeing that whoever finished drawing a snake first should drink it. The quickest man, seeing the others still working, began adding feet (添足) to his snake (画蛇) — at which the second man finished, took the flagon and said that snakes have no feet, so what was that thing. The first man lost the wine. It is the standard Chinese phrase for an addition that destroys what was already sufficient.
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
Related Chinese Idioms
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bēi gōng shé yǐng
Needlessly suspicious
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hǔ tóu shé wěi
Strong start with weak finish
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hú jiǎ hǔ wēi
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jǔ yī fǎn sān
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jiàn wēi zhī zhù
Foresee big from small signs
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míng chá qiū háo
Perceive tiny details
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深谋远虑
shēn móu yuǎn lǜ
Plan far ahead
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洞若观火
dòng ruò guān huǒ
Understand with absolute clarity
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does 画蛇添足 mean in English?
画蛇添足 (huà shé tiān zú) literally translates to “Draw snake add feet” and is used to express “Ruin by adding extras”. This Chinese idiom belongs to the Wisdom & Learning category.
When is 画蛇添足 used?
Situation: The excessive explanations only confused the simple concept
What is the pinyin for 画蛇添足?
The pinyin pronunciation for 画蛇添足 is “huà shé tiān zú”.
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