斩钉截铁

Pronunciation: zhǎn dīng jié tiě Literal meaning: Chop nail cut iron

Origin & Usage

Yunju Daoying, in the Jingde Records, tells his assembly that a person who studies the Buddha-dharma must be like one cutting through a nail (斩钉) and severing iron (截铁) — nothing tentative, nothing left half-done. Both objects resist cutting, so the force is in the decisiveness rather than in any ease. It transferred from that demand on a student to speech and manner generally: speaking or deciding with no hedge left anywhere in the sentence.

Examples

English: "The judge made a decisive ruling that left no room for appeal or interpretation"

Chinese: 法官做出了一个斩钉截铁的裁决，不留上诉或解释的余地