Harman Patil (Editor)

Proverbs commonly attributed to be Chinese

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Proverbs commonly attributed to be Chinese

In English, various phrases are used and claimed to be of Chinese origin – "..., as they say in China" or "An ancient Chinese proverb says...", and may be specifically attributed to Confucius. Chinese has influenced English in various ways, and some such phrases have clear Chinese origins, while in other cases the attribution to Chinese is demonstrably false, and in other cases the status is less clear.

Notable examples include:

  • A picture is worth a thousand words – in the modern English form, this was coined by American Fred R. Barnard in the 1920s, who called it "a Chinese proverb, so that people would take it seriously."
  • Chinese word for "crisis" – the claim that the Chinese word for "crisis", simplified Chinese: 危机; traditional Chinese: 危機; pinyin: wēijī; Wade–Giles: wei-chi is "danger" + "opportunity" is a folk etymology, based on a misreading of the second character jī.
  • May you live in interesting times – it is very doubtful that this has a Chinese origin, as no Chinese phrase has been found supporting this.

    • Other examples include phrases contained in fortune cookies, or sayings in the same style; fortune cookies are of Japanese American origin, and the phrases are generally intended for entertainment, rather than drawing on traditional Chinese culture.

    Authentic Chinese origin

    Many Chinese proverbs exist, some of which have entered English, in forms that are of varying degrees of faithfulness. A notable example is "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step", from the Dao De Jing, ascribed to Laozi.

    Other phrases entered English from Chinese via Chinese Pidgin English, such as "long time no see" or "chop chop".

    References

    Proverbs commonly attributed to be Chinese Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA