一帆风顺

Pronunciation: yī fān fēng shùn Literal meaning: One sail with favorable wind

Origin & Usage

One (一) sail (帆), the wind (风) following (顺). 顺风 is wind from astern, the condition under which a junk simply goes, and the phrase is a sailor's before it is anyone else's. It survives almost entirely as a wish rather than a description: written on cards, said at departures, and used of a career or a project that one hopes will not have to tack. Describing something that has already happened as 一帆风顺 is faintly dismissive of the effort involved.

Examples

English: "We wish you smooth sailing in your new career."

Chinese: 祝你在新的职业生涯中一帆风顺。