Bosimao
Member
What this is
These are are all idioms or proverbs in a broad sense, but not all would be recognised as chengyu in standard dictionaries. On Pleco, the definitions for most of them should exist and you may often see them having the tags "IDIOM", "WELL-KNOWN PHRASE", “COMMON PHRASE", "COLLOQUIAL", "FIGURATIVE COLLOQUIAL" etc.
If any of them are missing a Pleco dictionary entry, check the internet to see if there’s some mention of what it means somewhere and report it as a missing entry. Otherwise, don’t report it and just let me know here on the forums. We don’t want to give the Pleco team a hard time
. Thank you for your understanding.
Why you should study this over Chengyu
TLDR; used more IRL.
From my experience learning and using Chinese in real-life settings, I’ve found that my idiom list is far more useful than studying standard chengyu. The expressions in my file come up constantly in casual conversations, on TV, in online comments, even in arguments. They match the tone and rhythm of how people actually speak. I’ve seen people use them to joke, to complain, to criticise, or to make a point quickly. They’re flexible, punchy, and immediately understood by native speakers.
In contrast, standard chengyu feel more like literary tools. A lot of them are tied to historical stories or Classical Chinese, which means they don’t come naturally unless I’m deliberately trying to sound bookish or formal. Sure, they’re recognised and appreciated, but they’re not what people reach for in everyday conversation. When I hear chengyu in real life, they’re often sprinkled in sparingly, usually in writing or more prepared speech, not spontaneous talk.
So for practical, conversational fluency, my file is just more relevant. It gives me the kind of language that makes people say, “Oh, you really get how we talk.” That matters more to me than impressing someone with a line from a war story.
Breakdown
Rough count
These are are all idioms or proverbs in a broad sense, but not all would be recognised as chengyu in standard dictionaries. On Pleco, the definitions for most of them should exist and you may often see them having the tags "IDIOM", "WELL-KNOWN PHRASE", “COMMON PHRASE", "COLLOQUIAL", "FIGURATIVE COLLOQUIAL" etc.
If any of them are missing a Pleco dictionary entry, check the internet to see if there’s some mention of what it means somewhere and report it as a missing entry. Otherwise, don’t report it and just let me know here on the forums. We don’t want to give the Pleco team a hard time
. Thank you for your understanding.Why you should study this over Chengyu
TLDR; used more IRL.
From my experience learning and using Chinese in real-life settings, I’ve found that my idiom list is far more useful than studying standard chengyu. The expressions in my file come up constantly in casual conversations, on TV, in online comments, even in arguments. They match the tone and rhythm of how people actually speak. I’ve seen people use them to joke, to complain, to criticise, or to make a point quickly. They’re flexible, punchy, and immediately understood by native speakers.
In contrast, standard chengyu feel more like literary tools. A lot of them are tied to historical stories or Classical Chinese, which means they don’t come naturally unless I’m deliberately trying to sound bookish or formal. Sure, they’re recognised and appreciated, but they’re not what people reach for in everyday conversation. When I hear chengyu in real life, they’re often sprinkled in sparingly, usually in writing or more prepared speech, not spontaneous talk.
So for practical, conversational fluency, my file is just more relevant. It gives me the kind of language that makes people say, “Oh, you really get how we talk.” That matters more to me than impressing someone with a line from a war story.
Breakdown
Rough count
- Total entries in the file: 3 673.
- Entries that are exactly four Chinese characters and contain no punctuation (the standard textbook definition of a 成语): 881.
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