与众不同

Pronunciation: yǔ zhòng bù tóng Literal meaning: Different from the crowd

Origin & Usage

Not (不) the same as (同) the crowd (众), with 与 marking the comparison. Chinese has long been ambivalent about the condition this names, and the ambivalence survives inside the phrase: it is a compliment when the speaker approves of the difference and a diagnosis when they do not, and nothing in the four characters settles which. That makes it more useful than English 'unique', which has worn down to mean merely good. Design, a person's manner, and children whose difference has not yet been decided about.

Examples

English: "Her unique style sets her apart from other designers."

Chinese: 她独特的风格使她与众不同。