雪上加霜
雪上加霜 (xuě shàng jiā shuāng) literally means “add frost on top of snow” and expresses “add insult to injury; make things worse”. This idiom is used when describing situations involving life philosophy.
Also searched as: xue shang jia shuang, xue shang jia shuang,雪上加霜 meaning, 雪上加霜 in english
Add insult to injury; make things worse
Pronunciation: xuě shàng jiā shuāng Literal meaning: Add frost on top of snow
Origin & Usage
Frost (霜) added (加) on top of (上) snow (雪). Both are the same cold expressed twice, and that is the precision of it: the second misfortune is not a different kind of trouble but more of the one already there, which is what makes it feel gratuitous. It gets used of the bill that arrives during the illness, and of the second piece of bad news inside a week. English reaches for 'add insult to injury', which is close but wrong in one respect — there is no insult here, and nobody need have intended anything.
Examples
English: "Losing his job when his car broke down was adding frost to snow."
Chinese: 车坏的时候又丢了工作，真是雪上加霜。
Related Chinese Idioms
Similar idioms about life philosophy
唇亡齿寒
chún wáng chǐ hán
Fates linked together
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如履薄冰
rú lǚ bó bīng
Extreme caution in risky situations
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冰天雪地
bīng tiān xuě dì
Harsh conditions
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冰消瓦解
bīng xiāo wǎ jiě
Complete collapse
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文不加点
wén bù jiā diǎn
Perfect execution without revision
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冰清玉洁
bīng qīng yù jié
Impeccable moral character and integrity
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变本加厉
biàn běn jiā lì
Get worse; intensify negatively
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囊萤映雪
náng yíng yìng xuě
Study despite hardship
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does 雪上加霜 mean in English?
雪上加霜 (xuě shàng jiā shuāng) literally translates to “Add frost on top of snow” and is used to express “Add insult to injury; make things worse”. This Chinese idiom belongs to the Life Philosophy category.
When is 雪上加霜 used?
Situation: Losing his job when his car broke down was adding frost to snow.
What is the pinyin for 雪上加霜?
The pinyin pronunciation for 雪上加霜 is “xuě shàng jiā shuāng”.
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