| 高不成低不就 |
gāo bù chéng dī bù jiù |
can't reach the high or accept the low (idiom); not good enough for a high post, but too proud to take a low one |
| 高 |
Gāo |
surname Gao |
| 高 |
gāo |
high / tall / above average / loud / your (honorific) |
| 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 |
| 低 |
dī |
low / beneath / to lower (one's head) / to let droop / to hang down / to incline |
| 不 |
bù |
no; not so / (bound form) not; un- |
| 就 |
jiù |
(after a suppositional clause) in that case; then / (after a clause of action) as soon as; immediately after / (same as 就是) merely; nothing else but; simply; just; precisely; exactly / only; as little as / as much as; as many as / to approach; to move towards / to undertake; to engage in / (often followed by 着) taking advantage of / (of food) to go with / with regard to; concerning / (pattern: 就 ... 也 ...) even if ... still ... / (pattern: 不 ... 就 ...) if not ... then must be ... |