水滴石穿

Pronunciation: shuǐ dī shí chuān Literal meaning: Water drops pierce stone

Origin & Usage

The Song collection Helin Yulu attaches this to the magistrate Zhang Guaiya, who had a clerk flogged for a single copper coin, was told he would not dare behead him for it, and wrote the judgment before doing exactly that: a coin a day is a thousand coins in a thousand days, and 绳锯木断，水滴石穿 — a rope used as a saw cuts through wood, and water (水) dripping (滴) bores through (穿) stone (石). The two clauses are a fixed pair. The Book of Han makes the older observation: water is no drill, and wears stone away by sheer continuance. Study, saving, and any effort whose instalments are visibly too small to matter — that is where it belongs.

Examples

English: "With consistent practice, she finally mastered the difficult skill"

Chinese: 通过持续练习，她终于掌握了这项难度很大的技能