| 穷途末路 | qiong2 tu2 mo4 lu4 | an impasse |
| 缠夹不清 | chan2 jia1 bu4 qing1 | to muddle things together (idiom) |
| 老样子 | lao3 yang4 zi5 | old situation |
| 能办事 | neng2 ban4 shi4 | to be able to do things |
| 苟且偷安 | gou3 qie3 tou1 an1 | making no attempt to improve oneself |
| 行事谨慎 | xing2 shi4 jin3 shen4 | to do things extremely cautiously |
| 轻重主次 | qing1 zhong4 zhu3 ci4 | lacking a sense of perspective |
| 轻重倒置 | qing1 zhong4 dao4 zhi4 | lacking a sense of perspective |
| 逆行倒施 | ni4 xing2 dao3 shi1 | to do things all wrong |
| 醉翁之意不在酒 | zui4 weng1 zhi1 yi4 bu4 zai4 jiu3 | with an ax to grind |
| 镜花水月 | jing4 hua1 shui3 yue4 | also written 水月é¡èŠ±æ°´æœˆé•œèŠ± |
| 长此以往 | chang2 ci3 yi3 wang3 | if things continue this way |
| 零打碎敲 | ling2 da3 sui4 qiao1 | piecemeal work |