冰凍三尺,非一日之寒

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Chinese

[edit]
to freeze; ice three
a Chinese foot (M); one-third of a metre; a ruler
a Chinese foot (M); one-third of a metre; a ruler; a note musical note on traditional Chinese scale
 
(be) not; wrong; blame
(be) not; wrong; blame; Africa
 
one day; another day in the future 's; him/her/it; this cold; poor; to tremble
trad. (冰凍三尺,非一日之寒) 冰凍 一日
simp. (冰冻三尺,非一日之寒) 冰冻 一日
Literally: “three feet of ice is not the result of one cold day”.

Etymology

[edit]

A similar expression is found in Lunheng by Wang Chong:

結合一日斯須 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
结合一日斯须 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: Wang Chong, Lun Heng (Discussive Weighing), 80 CE
Gù fú hé bīng jiéhé, fēi yīrì zhī hán, jī tǔ chéng shān, fēi sīxū zhī zuò. [Pinyin]
Therefore, ice forming in river is not [caused by] one day's coldness; earth gathering to form mountains is not [caused by] one moment's efforts.

Pronunciation

[edit]

Proverb

[edit]

冰凍三尺,非一日之寒

  1. Rome wasn't built in a day.

Synonyms

[edit]