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villainous friend

AI fail: even if you don't know any Chinese, I bet you know this idiom, and contrary to what Quora's assistant bot says, it doesn't mean "benefiting from the hard work of others"!

瓜田李下 guātiánlǐxià means, "Don't tie your shoes in a melon field, and don't adjust your hat under a plum tree." In other words, if you don't want to attract suspicion, don't act suspiciously. I do wonder where the bot got its erroneous idea from.

Source: quora.com/What-was-a-Chinese-i
The idiom on Wiktionary: en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%93%

A response to a question on Quora, by a bot named 'Assistant': One Chinese idiom that I recently heard for the first time is "瓜田李下" (guā tián lǐ xià), which literally means "melons under a tree planted by Li". It is used to describe a situation where someone benefits from the hard work of others, similar to the English phrase "riding on the coattails" or "reaping where one has not sown".
#AI#chengyu#quora
Public
villainous friend

By the way, this chengyu is from a poem credited to Cao Zhi in the Warring States period, which is wild to me because it feels very modern. 🍈 👞 🌳 🎩

Translation by Robert Joe Cutter, from The Poetry of Cao Zhi, available as open access from De Gruyter (degruyter.com/document/doi/10.)... have to say, though, that copying and pasting from both the HTML and PDF versions is a non-functional mess. I don't think either will be screen-reader appropriate. :(

Gentlemen A gentleman guards against what has yet to occur, He does not dwell in doubt and uncertainty. In a melon patch, you don't put on your shoe; Under a plum tree, you don't straighten your cap. A brother-in-law and sister-in-law don't let their hands touch in giving things; An elder person and a younger one can't be side-by-side. Merge with the brilliant to obtain its handle, Being modest and respectful is especially hard. The Duke of Zhou went down into plain houses, He spat out his food and had no time to eat, In one washing he would squeeze out his hair three times, And later ages praise him as wise and worthy.
Cao Wei's poem Jūnzǐ Xíng《君子行》 in Chinese. Unfortunately, I can't copy it from the PDF in a readable form, sorry!
Public
tei

@villainousfriend Huh!

What does "merge with the brilliant to obtain its handle" mean? Is it something like "surround yourself with excellence"?

Also curious about why an elder person and a younger can't be side by side... I guess... accusations of sexual impropriety? But the idea that multiple generations can't work together or be friends DOES feel very modern...

Public
villainous friend

@bloodripelives you know, I have no idea what that means. 😅 Maybe accusations of sexual impropriety? Or of lacking respect for elders? 🤔 The bit that confuses me most is the Duke of Zhou spitting out his food. If you have no time to eat, shouldn't you at least swallow the bite you already took? Unless you're about to go on a rollercoaster (or a fast ride to the next house), maybe.

Public
tei

@villainousfriend ohh yeah, that makes more sense-- "can't be side by side" as in, the younger person should be following the elder, not that they shouldn't be in the same physical space?

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