Question Chinese idioms in settings where their meaning should be different?

Discussion in 'Novel General' started by SinsI, Nov 3, 2019.

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  1. SinsI

    SinsI Well-Known Member

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    One of the Chinese idioms is something like "as rare as feathers of phoenix, as scales of a dragon or as horns of Qilin" .
    But sometimes they are used in novel settings where neither phoenixes nor QIlins are particularly rare.

    I remember stumbling upon such inappropriate use in Grasping Evil and Ze Tian Ji.

    Do you remember any other examples of misuse of this idiom?
    Or any use of the idiom in the changed, setting-appropriate sense (so "as rare as feathers of phoenix" starts meaning "something extremely common")?

    And are there any other such idioms that should have a changed meaning in settings where they are used?
     
  2. Robbini

    Robbini Logical? Illogical? Random? Or Just Unique?

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    Sure those things might not always be 'uncommon'. But how many people out there have actually gotten some and stayed alive ?
     
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  3. mm38910

    mm38910 Well-Known Member

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    Hmm, but they were rare in Ze Tian Ji.
     
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