小心翼翼
- Literal
- small heart, wings and wings
- Figurative
- With painstaking care and caution, weighing every move for fear of breaking something, slipping up, or giving offense.
Where does 小心翼翼 come from?
It comes from the 《诗经》, China's oldest poetry anthology. In the ode "大明," which celebrates the first Zhou kings, King Wen is described as “维此文王，小心翼翼” ("this King Wen, attentive and reverent"). There 翼翼, the doubled character for "wing," did not mean "carefully" in today's sense but the grave, respectful bearing of a man who serves Heaven and allows himself no lapse. From that religious reverence the phrase drifted toward something far more everyday: the caution with which you carry a vase or say your first words in an unfamiliar place.
Source (出处): 《诗经·大雅·大明》
How is 小心翼翼 used? Two examples
- 他小心翼翼地把奶奶的那个茶杯放回柜子里。
He set his grandmother's teacup back in the cabinet with painstaking care.
- 第一天上班，我说话做事都小心翼翼的。
On my first day at work I was careful with every word and every move.
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