| 不打不成器 |
bù dǎ bù chéng qì |
spare the rod and spoil the child (idiom) |
| 不 |
bù |
no; not so / (bound form) not; un- |
| 打 |
dá |
(loanword) dozen / Taiwan pr. [da3] |
| 打 |
dǎ |
to hit; to strike / to fight / (in many expressions) a semantically light transitive verb used with various objects to form expressions with a wide range of meanings, e.g. 打伞 "to hold an umbrella", 打电话 "to make a phone call", 打针 "to get an injection" / (coll.) from; since |
| 不 |
bù |
no; not so / (bound form) not; un- |
| 不成 |
bù chéng |
won't do / unable to / (at the end of a rhetorical question) can that be? |
| 成 |
Chéng |
surname Cheng / short name for Chengdu 成都 |
| 成 |
chéng |
to succeed / to finish / to complete / to accomplish / to become / to turn into / to be all right / OK! / one tenth |
| 成器 |
chéng qì |
to make sth of oneself / to become a person who is worthy of respect |
| 器 |
qì |
device / tool / utensil / CL:台 |