泰山压顶

Pronunciation: tài shān yā dǐng Literal meaning: Mount Tai pressing on the head

Origin & Usage

Mount Tai (泰山) pressing (压) down on the crown of the head (顶). Tai is the mountain Chinese reaches for whenever weight is wanted — it is the standard against which a death is heavy or light — so the phrase takes the heaviest available object and puts it in the one position where nothing can be done about it. What it describes is pressure with no room left underneath. Deadlines, expectations and authority bearing down; it is always about the sensation rather than the odds.

Examples

English: "The enormous pressure of the deadline weighed heavily on the team."

Chinese: 截止日期的压力如泰山压顶。