成語(3)：一肚子火。Chinese Idiom: A Belly of Fire (literally translated)

While you say ‘fire in one’s belly’ in English, we in Chinese say nearly all the same things: 一肚子火。一(a, one)肚子(belly)火(fire)，pronounced as一(i)肚子(duˋtz)火(huoˇ)。Do they denote the same thing too? No. In English, one has energy and determination to do something when he has a fire in his belly. In the “Chinese” belly, however, the fire is angriness. So, I am very angry or furious when I say「我一肚子火」----我(I)一(a)肚子(belly)火(fire)；woˇ-i-duˋ-tz-huoˇ。What this Chinese idiom actually says is “My belly is full of fire.” You say this to others to let them know that you are furious at something. Just like you read ‘a loaf of bread,’ I like to transliterate this idiom into ‘a belly of fire’ ----一肚子火。 The following is the Chinese character 'fire' :

 

成語(2)：騎虎難下。 Chinese Proverb: He Who Rides a Tiger is Afraid to Dismount.

It is said that the English idiom "Ride a Tiger" comes from a Chinese proverb "He who rides (騎) a tiger (虎) is afraid (難) to dismount (下). " John Ayto in his Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms explains this Chinese proverb very well. It says that "ride a tiger" denotes "take a responsibility or embark a course of action which subsequently cannot be safely abandoned." Why cannot be safely abandoned? Because the responsibility or the course of action has now changed into a 'tiger'--uncontrollable, doesn't listen to you, hard to tell to stop. There was no 'tiger' in the first place, but now you have it. Chinese-speaking people say "now you 騎虎難下了," while English-speaking ones say " Now you are riding a tiger." Pronounce it : 騎(chiˊ)虎(huˇ)難(nanˊ)下(shiaˋ)。By the way, the Chinese word「難」isn't 'afraid,' , but ' difficult, hard.' This Chinese proverb has said nothing about someone 'afraid' of doing something. It says that the dilemma--riding a tiger (騎虎)--is difficult (難)or hard (難) to resolve. Look, the Chinese character ' tiger':