画蛇添足寓意英文怎么说？
编辑：自学文库
时间：2024年03月09日
The idiom "画蛇添足" in Chinese means "to ruin something by trying to improve or embellish it unnecessarily." It is often used to describe a situation where one adds unnecessary or excessive details to something that is already perfect or well-done, thereby spoiling the overall result.
In English, a similar phrase that conveys a similar meaning is "to gild the lily." This phrase originates from Shakespeare's play "King John," where the character King John mentions that adding gold to a beautiful lily would be excessive and unnecessary.
The phrase "to gild the lily" has gained popularity and is commonly used to describe a situation where someone tries to improve or enhance something that is already sufficient or excellent in its current state. It implies that any additional effort or enhancement will only serve to detract from the original beauty.
For example, if someone were to take a beautifully written speech and add unnecessary and irrelevant information, they would be "gilding the lily," as the original speech was already perfect and didn't require any additional embellishment.
Overall, both the idiom "画蛇添足" and the English phrase "to gild the lily" convey the idea of spoiling something by unnecessarily trying to improve or embellish it, therefore detracting from its original beauty or effectiveness.