一鸣惊人

Pronunciation: yī míng jīng rén Literal meaning: One cry startles everyone

Origin & Usage

King Zhuang of Chu spent three years on the throne issuing no orders at all. An officer put him a riddle about a bird that for three years had neither stirred its wings nor called, and the king answered that though it had not flown, when it flew it would reach the heavens, and though it had not cried (鸣), when it cried it would startle (惊) everyone (人). Han Feizi tells that version. The Records of the Grand Historian carries a second one in its chapter on jesters, where Chunyu Kun puts the same riddle to King Wei of Qi and gets the sharper wording that became the idiom — 此鸟不飞则已，一飞冲天；不鸣则已，一鸣惊人. The first half is what supplies the years of apparent idleness that make the phrase mean more than sudden success.

Examples

English: "After years of quiet preparation, his novel became an overnight sensation"

Chinese: 经过多年默默准备，他的小说一夜成名