三天两头 sān tiān liǎng tóu Every other day

Explanation

三天两头，是一个常见的汉语成语，意思是指「经常、频繁」。它的字面意思是「每隔一天，或几乎每天」，形容某件事情发生的频率很高。

"Three days, two heads" is a common Chinese idiom that means "frequently, often". Literally, it means "every other day, or almost every day", describing how often something happens.

Origin Story

在古代中国的一个繁华的城市里，住着一位名叫李明的年轻书生。李明天生聪明，却有些懒散，总是三天两头就跑到街上闲逛，惹得街坊邻居们对他议论纷纷。 有一天，李明又出门闲逛，在街上碰到一位老先生，老先生见李明三天两头就往街上跑，便好奇地问他：“小伙子，你怎么老是三天两头就往街上跑？难道家里没有事情要做吗？” 李明挠挠头，不好意思地说：“我……我家里没什么事，就爱出来走走看看。”老先生听了，笑着说：“年轻人，你这样三天两头就往街上跑，时间都浪费掉了，怎么能学有所成呢？你应该珍惜时间，多读读书，多学点东西，将来才能有所作为。” 李明听了老先生的话，觉得很有道理，便决心改变自己的懒散作风，开始认真读书学习。经过一段时间的努力，李明终于学有所成，成为了一个博学多才的学者。后来，人们提起李明，都会说：“你看，以前那个三天两头往街上跑的李明，现在都成大才子了，真是令人佩服！”

zài gǔ dài zhōng guó de fán huá de chéng shì lǐ, zhù zhe yī wèi míng jiào lǐ míng de nián qīng shū shēng. lǐ míng tiān shēng cōng míng, què yǒu xiē lǎn sàn, zǒng shì sān tiān liǎng tóu jiù pǎo dào jiē shàng xián guàng, rě de jiē fáng lín jū men duì tā yì lùn fēn fēn. yǒu yī tiān, lǐ míng yòu chū mén xián guàng, zài jiē shàng pèng dào yī wèi lǎo xiān shēng, lǎo xiān shēng jiàn lǐ míng sān tiān liǎng tóu jiù wǎng jiē shàng pǎo, biàn hào qí de wèn tā: “xiǎo huǒ zi, nǐ zěn me lǎo shì sān tiān liǎng tóu jiù wǎng jiē shàng pǎo? nán dào jiā lǐ méi yǒu shì qíng yào zuò ma?” lǐ míng náo náo tóu, bù hǎo yì sī de shuō: “wǒ… wǒ jiā lǐ méi shén me shì, jiù ài chū lái zǒu zǒu kàn kàn.” lǎo xiān shēng tīng le, xiào zhe shuō: “nián qīng rén, nǐ zhè yàng sān tiān liǎng tóu jiù wǎng jiē shàng pǎo, shí jiān dōu làng fèi diào le, zěn me néng xué yǒu suǒ chéng ne? nǐ yīng gāi zhēn xī shí jiān, duō dú dú shū, duō xué diǎn dōng xi, jiāng lái cái néng yǒu suǒ zuò wéi.” lǐ míng tīng le lǎo xiān shēng de huà, jué de hěn yǒu dào lǐ, biàn jué xīn gǎi biàn zì jǐ de lǎn sàn zuò fēng, kāi shǐ rèn zhēn dú shū xué xí. jīng guò yī duàn shí jiān de nǔ lì, lǐ míng zhōng yú xué yǒu suǒ chéng, chéng wéi le yī gè bó xué duō cái de xué zhě. hòu lái, rén men tí qǐ lǐ míng, dōu huì shuō: “nǐ kàn, yǐ qián nà gè sān tiān liǎng tóu wǎng jiē shàng pǎo de lǐ míng, xiàn zài dōu chéng dà cái zi le, zhēn shì lìng rén pèi fú!”

In an ancient Chinese city, there lived a young scholar named Li Ming. Li Ming was naturally intelligent but a bit lazy. He often went out to wander around the streets, causing people to gossip about him. One day, Li Ming went out again to wander around and met an old gentleman. The old gentleman saw that Li Ming was often out on the streets and curiously asked him, “Young man, why do you keep going out to the streets? Don't you have anything to do at home?” Li Ming scratched his head and said embarrassedly, “I… I have nothing to do at home. I just love to go out and see things.” The old gentleman listened and said with a smile, “Young man, if you keep going out to the streets like this, you're wasting your time. How can you succeed in your studies? You should cherish your time, read more, learn more, and then you can achieve something in the future.” Li Ming listened to the old gentleman's words and found them very reasonable. He decided to change his lazy ways and began to study hard. After a period of effort, Li Ming finally achieved his goal and became a learned and talented scholar. Later, when people talked about Li Ming, they would say, “Look, Li Ming, who used to go out to the streets all the time, has now become a great scholar. He's really admirable!”

Usage

“三天两头”这个成语用来描述某件事情发生的频率很高，经常出现。例如，我们可以说“他三天两头就来我家串门”或“最近，天气三天两头就下雨”。它也常用于日常对话，表达事情发生的频繁程度。

sān tiān liǎng tóu zhè ge chéng yǔ yòng lái miáo shù mǒu jiàn shì qíng fā shēng de pín lú hěn gāo, jīng cháng chū xiàn. lì rú, wǒ men kě yǐ shuō “tā sān tiān liǎng tóu jiù lái wǒ jiā chuàn mén” huò “zuì jìn, tiān qì sān tiān liǎng tóu jiù xià yǔ”. tā yě cháng yòng yú rì cháng duì huà, biǎo dá shì qíng fā shēng de pín fán chéng dù.

"Three days, two heads" is used to describe how often something happens. It means that something occurs frequently or regularly. For example, you could say, “He comes to my house to visit every other day” or “It has been raining every other day recently”. It is often used in everyday conversation to express how often something happens.

Examples

• 他三天两头就来我家串门。

  tā sān tiān liǎng tóu jiù lái wǒ jiā chuàn mén.

  He comes to my house to visit every other day.

• 最近，天气三天两头就下雨。

  zuì jìn, tiān qì sān tiān liǎng tóu jiù xià yǔ.

  It has been raining every other day recently.

• 这几天，他三天两头就打电话给我。

  zhè jǐ tiān, tā sān tiān liǎng tóu jiù dǎ diàn huà gěi wǒ.

  He calls me every other day these days.

Related Idioms

• 常常

• 时常

• 经常

Opposite Idioms

• 偶尔

• 间或