Four-character idioms (成語 sing4 jyu5) with the stories behind them. Each entry gives the pronunciation in Jyutping and pinyin, what the characters say literally, what the idiom means, the original tale retold, and a Cantonese example sentence.
畫蛇添足 — To spoil something good by adding what it does not need. Used when extra touches make a finished job worse, not better. Cantonese: waak6 se4 tim1 zuk1 · Mandarin: huà shé tiān zú
守株待兔 — To hope lightning strikes twice instead of working for what you want. Used for people who copy a one-off lucky break instead of adapting. Cantonese: sau2 zyu1 doi6 tou3 · Mandarin: shǒu zhū dài tù
亡羊補牢 — Losses already taken are a reason to fix the cause, not to give up. Used to encourage action after a failure: repair the hole, then carry on. Cantonese: mong4 joeng4 bou2 lou4 · Mandarin: wáng yáng bǔ láo
掩耳盜鈴 — To pretend a problem does not exist by blocking out the evidence, in a way that fools nobody but yourself. Used for self-deception that is obvious to everyone else. Cantonese: jim2 ji5 dou6 ling4 · Mandarin: yǎn ěr dào líng
刻舟求劍 — To apply a fixed rule to a situation that has already moved on. Used when someone follows the letter of an old method after its conditions have vanished. Cantonese: hak1 zau1 kau4 gim3 · Mandarin: kè zhōu qiú jiàn
拔苗助長 — To damage what you want to help by rushing it. Used for well-meant interference that backfires: cramming, over-watering, over-managing. Cantonese: bat6 miu4 zo6 zoeng2 · Mandarin: bá miáo zhù zhǎng
井底之蛙 — Someone whose experience is so narrow that they mistake their small circle for the whole world. Often used as a humble warning against judging what you have never seen. Cantonese: zeng2 dai2 zi1 waa1 · Mandarin: jǐng dǐ zhī wā
對牛彈琴 — To offer refined or technical talk to listeners who cannot follow it. The fault may sit with the speaker's choice of audience, not the listeners — match the message to the hearer. Cantonese: deoi3 ngau4 taan4 kam4 · Mandarin: duì niú tán qín
葉公好龍 — To claim a passion that collapses the moment the real thing shows up. Used for professed tastes — adventure, tradition, honesty — that fail their first real test. Cantonese: jip6 gung1 hou3 lung4 · Mandarin: Yè Gōng hào lóng
狐假虎威 — To strut on power that is not your own — a title, a patron, a uniform. Used to cut a bully down to size: the fear comes from the tiger behind, not the fox in front. Cantonese: wu4 gaa2 fu2 wai1 · Mandarin: hú jiǎ hǔ wēi