Chinese sayings: 01 (倾巢而出; 囊中羞涩)

Some of my favourite Chinese sayings:

1. 倾巢而出 qīng cháo ér chū / “tilt nest and exit”, sometimes 倾巢出动 qīng cháo chū dòng / “tilt nest exit move”.  

倾巢而出 / 倾巢出动 are defined as “turn out in full force”, for a military campaign.  

My perverse sense of humour has this graphic image for it:  the birds are sitting happily in the nest, all settled down; a hand comes along and tilts the nest, tipping them out (thus forcing them into action).

2. 囊中羞涩 náng zhōng xiū sè.  The online dictionary gives it as “to be cash strapped”.  I love the literal breakdown of the phrase:  “pouch inside shy astringent”. 

羞 xiū / “shy” is easier to imagine: there’s not enough money for the inside of the pouch to be seen, hence “shy (to be seen)”.  

涩 sè is a trickier word to convey adequately in English but common in Chinese.  It’s most often used for the feeling on one’s tongue if one’s eaten fruit that’s not fully ripened.  Not tart / acidic / sour / sharp like unripe mango or apple.  Rather, more like unripe persimmon (kaki / sharon fruit), so that it furs up one’s tongue, giving it a slightly rough feeling.  Another definition of 涩 is “unsmooth”, like the furred-up feeling on the tongue, which is closer to 涩 than tart / acidic / sour / sharp.  It is this “unsmooth” quality to the inside of the (money) pouch that makes me laugh: there’s not enough money to be moved smoothly (out of the pouch).  

Calling the inside of the pouch 羞涩 / “shy unsmooth” is such a euphemistic solution for describing being cash strapped, haha.