脚踏实地
- Literal
- feet planted on solid ground
- Figurative
- To work with your feet on the ground: stick to what is real and do a good job of the thing in front of you, without airs or promises you can't keep.
Where does 脚踏实地 come from?
The anecdote is recorded in Shao Bowen's 《邵氏闻见录》, a collection of recollections about the scholars of his day. It tells how the historian Sima Guang asked the philosopher Shao Yong what sort of man he took him, Sima Guang, to be, and Shao Yong replied: "You are a man whose feet tread solid ground." It was praise for the way Sima Guang worked: no showmanship, no speculation, every step resting on something firm. That reply gave rise to the expression, which is still used with that same approving sense.
Source (出处): 邵伯温《邵氏闻见录》
How is 脚踏实地 used? Two examples
- 他做事脚踏实地，从不吹牛。
He goes about his work with both feet on the ground and never brags.
- 与其空想，不如脚踏实地，先把手上的活干好。
Rather than daydreaming, keep your feet on the ground and do a good job of the work already in front of you.
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