一蹴而就
- Literal
- one step and it is achieved
- Figurative
- To achieve something in a single step, with no time or effort; it is nearly always negated, as a reminder that a goal takes sustained work.
Where does 一蹴而就 come from?
It comes from a letter by the man of letters Su Xun (Northern Song dynasty), 《上田枢密书》, addressed to a senior official of the Bureau of Military Affairs. In it he observes that there is no scholar who does not wish to reach the realm of the sages in a single step (the letter has 一蹴而造; the form with 就 settled later). 蹴 here means "to tread, to take a step," and 就 "to reach, to accomplish." The idiom grew out of that phrase, and today it lives mostly in the negative: 不可能一蹴而就, 不是一蹴而就的. It is the flip side of 循序渐进: that one describes the road walked step by step; this one names the shortcut that does not exist.
Source (出处): 苏洵《上田枢密书》
How is 一蹴而就 used? Two examples
- 减肥不是一蹴而就的事，得慢慢调整饮食。
Losing weight doesn't happen overnight; you have to adjust your diet gradually.
- 公司转型不可能一蹴而就，只能一步一步来。
Transforming the company can't be done in one fell swoop; the only way is one step at a time.
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