Occasions

8 Joyful Chinese Idioms for New Baby Congratulations

Heartwarming Chinese idioms to congratulate new parents and bless newborn babies.

The birth of a child is one of life's greatest blessings in Chinese culture. These joyful idioms celebrate new life and wish the baby health and happiness.

画蛇添足

huà shé tiān zú

Ruin by adding extras

Literal meaning: Draw snake add feet

The ancient parable tells of an artist who lost a wine-drinking contest because he spent extra time adding legs to his snake drawing (画蛇添足). The story entered common usage during the Han Dynasty as a warning against ruining sufficiency through unnecessary additions. Today it reminds us how overelabo...

Example

The excessive explanations only confused the simple concept

过多的解释反而让简单的概念变得混乱

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姑息养奸

gū xī yǎng jiān

Leniency encourages worse behavior

Literal meaning: Tolerate evil, nurture harm

This enabling idiom describes temporarily tolerating (姑息) problems and thereby nurturing (养) future harm (奸), originating from Han Dynasty governmental warnings. It first appeared in administrative texts cautioning against short-term appeasement of problems that would grow more serious if not proper...

Example

The principal's leniency toward bullying only emboldened the perpetrators

校长对欺凌行为的宽容只会使行为人更加胆大妄为

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喜出望外

xǐ chū wàng wài

Overjoyed; pleasantly surprised

Literal meaning: Joy exceeding expectations

This idiom describes joy (喜) that goes beyond (出) one's expectations (望外). It captures the special quality of pleasant surprises that exceed what one hoped for or anticipated. The phrase appeared in Song Dynasty literature describing characters receiving unexpectedly good news. The emotional intensi...

Example

She was overjoyed when she received the unexpected promotion.

收到意外的晋升通知，她喜出望外。

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喜闻乐见

xǐ wén lè jiàn

Enjoyed by all; universally popular

Literal meaning: Happy to hear delighted to see

This idiom describes being happy (喜) to hear (闻) and delighted (乐) to see (见). It characterizes things that please audiences through both auditory and visual channels. The phrase appeared in texts discussing popular entertainment and public communication. It represents widespread appeal that transce...

Example

This type of entertainment is popular with audiences of all ages.

这类娱乐节目为各年龄段观众所喜闻乐见。

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如虎添翼

rú hǔ tiān yì

Add to one's strength; become even more powerful

Literal meaning: Like tiger adding wings

This idiom describes being like a tiger (如虎) that adds (添) wings (翼). A tiger is already formidable; with wings, it becomes unstoppable. The phrase describes adding capabilities to something already powerful. It appeared in texts describing reinforcements to already strong positions. Modern usage de...

Example

The new funding will greatly strengthen our capabilities.

新的资金将使我们如虎添翼。

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喜怒无常

xǐ nù wú cháng

Be moody; have unpredictable emotions

Literal meaning: Joy and anger without constancy

This idiom describes having joy (喜) and anger (怒) without (无) consistency (常). It depicts someone whose emotions are unpredictable and volatile. The phrase appeared in historical texts describing capricious rulers whose moods endangered their subjects. Modern usage describes moody, emotionally unsta...

Example

Working for someone with unpredictable moods is exhausting.

为一个喜怒无常的人工作令人精疲力竭。

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喜笑颜开

xǐ xiào yán kāi

Be beaming with joy

Literal meaning: Happy smile, face opens up

This idiom describes being so happy (喜) that one smiles (笑) and the face (颜) opens up (开). It captures the physical transformation that genuine joy brings to facial expression. The phrase depicts pure happiness visible in one's countenance. Modern usage describes obvious happiness that shows clearly...

Example

The children's faces lit up when they saw the presents.

孩子们看到礼物时喜笑颜开。

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