Chinese Word: 弄巧成拙 - Talking Chinese English Dictionary

to overreach oneself; to try to be clever and end up with egg on one's face

1		rèn shí dào 认识到 zì jǐ 自己 nòng qiǎo chéng zhuō 弄巧成拙， wǒ 我 jiù 就 shì zhe 试着 qù 去 jiū zhèng 纠正 cuò wù 错误。 Perceiving myself in a blunder, I attempted to correct it.
2		bú guò 不过， wǒ men 我们 hěn kuài 很快 fā xiàn 发现， qí shí 其实 dà bù fen 大部分 rén 人 dōu 都 nòng qiǎo chéng zhuō 弄巧成拙。 As we soon discovered, though, most people can't carry it off.
3		qù 去 qiǎn zé 谴责 cān yì yuàn 参议院 huò zhě 或者 měi guó 美国， shì 是 bù gōng píng 不公平 de 的 —— shèn zhì 甚至 huì 会 nòng qiǎo chéng zhuō 弄巧成拙。 Blaming the Senate, or the United States, is unfair -- and potentially self-defeating.
4		dàn 但 jiā xī 加息 jiāng 将 huì 会 xī yǐn 吸引 gèng duō 更多 rè qián 热钱， zhè 这 zài 在 yí dìng 一定 chéng dù 程度 shàng 上 huì 会 nòng qiǎo chéng zhuō 弄巧成拙。 But higher rates could attract more hot money, which would be partly self-defeating.
5		mǎ lì 玛丽 zuò wán 做完 shì juàn 试卷 hòu 后 zuò 作 le 了 hěn duō 很多 xiū gǎi 修改。 tā 她 bù 不 gāi 该 nòng qiǎo chéng zhuō 弄巧成拙， fǎn ér 反而 yòu 又 zēng jiā 增加 le 了 jǐ ge 几个 xīn de 新的 cuò wù 错误。 Mary made a lot of changes in her test paper after she finished. She should have let well enough alone, because she made several new mistakes.

1		rèn shí dào 认识到 zì jǐ 自己 nòng qiǎo chéng zhuō 弄巧成拙， wǒ 我 jiù 就 shì zhe 试着 qù 去 jiū zhèng 纠正 cuò wù 错误。 Perceiving myself in a blunder, I attempted to correct it.
2		bú guò 不过， wǒ men 我们 hěn kuài 很快 fā xiàn 发现， qí shí 其实 dà bù fen 大部分 rén 人 dōu 都 nòng qiǎo chéng zhuō 弄巧成拙。 As we soon discovered, though, most people can't carry it off.
3		qù 去 qiǎn zé 谴责 cān yì yuàn 参议院 huò zhě 或者 měi guó 美国， shì 是 bù gōng píng 不公平 de 的 —— shèn zhì 甚至 huì 会 nòng qiǎo chéng zhuō 弄巧成拙。 Blaming the Senate, or the United States, is unfair -- and potentially self-defeating.
4		dàn 但 jiā xī 加息 jiāng 将 huì 会 xī yǐn 吸引 gèng duō 更多 rè qián 热钱， zhè 这 zài 在 yí dìng 一定 chéng dù 程度 shàng 上 huì 会 nòng qiǎo chéng zhuō 弄巧成拙。 But higher rates could attract more hot money, which would be partly self-defeating.
5		mǎ lì 玛丽 zuò wán 做完 shì juàn 试卷 hòu 后 zuò 作 le 了 hěn duō 很多 xiū gǎi 修改。 tā 她 bù 不 gāi 该 nòng qiǎo chéng zhuō 弄巧成拙， fǎn ér 反而 yòu 又 zēng jiā 增加 le 了 jǐ ge 几个 xīn de 新的 cuò wù 错误。 Mary made a lot of changes in her test paper after she finished. She should have let well enough alone, because she made several new mistakes.