一箭双雕

Pronunciation: yī jiàn shuāng diāo Literal meaning: One arrow two eagles

Origin & Usage

The History of the Northern Dynasties preserves this in the biography of Zhangsun Sheng, sent by the Northern Zhou court as deputy envoy escorting Princess Qianjin to the Turkic leader Shetu. His archery so impressed Shetu that the two rode out hunting together for a year. Seeing two eagles (雕) in the air fighting over a piece of meat, Shetu handed him a pair of arrows and asked him to bring them down; Zhangsun rode out and ran both (双) birds through with a single shot (一箭). He later served the Sui and spent decades dividing the Turks by diplomacy. The phrase long ago detached itself from the hunt and now means securing two results from one well-aimed action. It maps closely onto the English 'kill two birds with one stone', which makes it one of the rare idioms a learner can use correctly the first time they meet it.

Examples

English: "The new office cut their rent and put them closer to their customers"

Chinese: 新办公室既降低了租金，又让他们更靠近客户