| 难捱 | nan2 | trying |
| 杯水车薪 | bei1 shui3 che1 xin1 | lit. a cup of water on a burning cart of firewood (idiom) |
| 惜指失掌 | xi1 zhi1 shi1 zhang3 | to lose the hand in trying to save the fingers |
| 赔了夫人又折兵 | pei2 le5 fu1 ren2 you4 zhe2 bing1 | throw good money after bad |
| 欲盖弥彰 | yu4 gai4 mi2 zhang1 | A cover up only makes matters worse. |
| 连滚带爬 | lian2 gun3 dai4 pa2 | trying frantically to escape (idiom) |
| 互相推诿 | hu4 xiang1 tui1 wei3 | each blaming the other |
| 偷鸡不成蚀把米 | tou1 ji1 bu4 cheng2 shi2 ba3 mi3 | to go for wool and come back shorn |
| 开倒车 | kai1 dao4 che1 | retrogressive |
| 死马当活马医 | si3 ma3 dang1 huo2 ma3 yi1 | lit. to give medicine to a dead horse (idiom) |
| 螳臂当车 | tang2 bi4 dang1 che1 | a mantis trying to stop a chariot (idiom) |
| 人心不足蛇吞象 | ren2 xin1 bu4 zu2 she2 tun1 xiang4 | a man who is never content is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant (idiom) |
| 撼树蚍蜉 | han4 shu4 pi2 fu2 | to overrate oneself (idiom) |