| 四两拨千斤 |
sì liǎng bō qiān jīn |
lit. four ounces can move a thousand catties (idiom) / fig. to achieve much with little effort |
| 四 |
sì |
four / 4 |
| 两 |
liǎng |
two / both / some / a few / tael, unit of weight equal to 50 grams (modern) or 1⁄16 of a catty 斤 (old) |
| 拨 |
bō |
to push aside with the hand, foot, a stick etc / to dial / to allocate / to set aside (money) / to poke (the fire) / to pluck (a string instrument) / to turn round / classifier: group, batch |
| 千 |
qiān |
thousand |
| 千 |
qiān |
used in 秋千 |
| 斤 |
jīn |
catty / (PRC) weight equal to 500 g / (Tw) weight equal to 600 g / (HK, Malaysia, Singapore) slightly over 604 g |