Category: Chinese Grammar

变色龙 (biànsè lóng) Chameleon Usage: “变色龙”本义为一种随着环境而改变身体颜色的小动物，现在指没有立场,见风使舵的人。有时候也用来指那些容易适应环境变化的人。The original meaning of “变色龙”is a small animal changing the colorof its body along with the environment. Now, it refers to a person who has no standpoint and changes his mind together with others.

滚雪球  (gǔn xuěqiú) snowball；increase or accumulate at a rapidly accelerating rate

跟屁虫(gēn pì chóng) one’s shadow; to tag along Usage: “跟屁虫”是一种形象的比喻。其中“跟”指的是跟随的意思，“屁”指屁股，代指背后，而这里用“虫”字来指人则表示出厌恶的语气、不喜欢的情感。整个词用来比喻因为没有主见，需要保护或者因为崇拜而老是跟着别人背后的人，暗含厌恶的意思。“跟屁虫”is a metaphorical expression. In this noun, “跟”means follow and “屁”whose meaning is bottom refers to the back of somebody. What’s more, the word“虫”(worm) here is used to describe a kind of human, which can definitely be considered as the disapproval of them. The whole word refers to a kind of people who always follow others out of showing flattering, their faire or lack of self-independence.

侃大山 (kǎndàshān) gossip, chat idly, chew the fat Usage: “侃大山”，北京方言，口语，是指闲聊，开玩笑，说一些没有什么意义的话。通常聊天的时候可以持续很长时间。“侃大山”is a Beijing dialect. As a spoken language, it means chatting, making a joke, or speaking meaningless words. It often lasts a long time.

替罪羊(tìzuìyáng) scapegoat; fall guy Usage: “替罪羊”是指代人受过，替人受罪的人。“替罪羊”refers to a scapegoat or a fall guy..