惜字如金 xī zì rú jīn Economical with words

Explanation

形容说话、写作等非常简练，不浪费一个字。

Describes someone who is very concise and economical with words when speaking or writing, not wasting a single word.

Origin Story

唐代大诗人李白，一生创作了大量的诗歌，他的诗歌语言精炼，意境深远，被后人誉为“诗仙”。然而，李白并非天生如此，年轻时他也曾写过一些冗长的诗篇，文字堆砌，缺乏韵味。一次，一位老禅师指点他，说：“写诗如同炼丹，要将文字提炼到极致，才能达到‘惜字如金’的境界。”李白深受启发，从此潜心修炼，认真推敲每一个字句，力求做到精炼传神。他开始注重修辞手法，运用比喻、象征等手法来表达更深层次的意境。同时，他还学习了各种诗歌体裁，并不断地尝试新的表达方式。经过多年的努力，李白终于达到了‘惜字如金’的境界，他的诗歌语言变得更加精炼，意境更加深远，成为后世学习的典范。

táng dài dà shī rén lǐ bái, yī shēng chuàngzuò le dà liàng de shīgē, tā de shīgē yǔyán jīngliàn, yìjìng shēnyuǎn, bèi hòurén yù wèi “shī xiān”. rán'ér, lǐ bái bìngfēi tiānshēng rúcǐ, niánqīng shí tā yě céng xiě guò yīxiē róngcháng de shīpiān, wénzì duīqì, quēfá yùnwèi. yī cì, yī wèi lǎo chánshī zhǐdiǎn tā, shuō:“xiě shī rútóng liàn dān, yào jiāng wénzì tíliàn dào jízhì, cáinéng dàodá ‘xī zì rú jīn’ de jìngjiè.” lǐ bái shēn shòu qǐfā, cóng cǐ qiánxīn xiūliàn, rènzhēn tuīqiāo měi yīgè zìjù, lìqiú zuòdào jīngliàn chuánshén. tā kāishǐ zhùzhòng xiūcí shǒufǎ, yòngyùn bǐyù, xiàngzhēng děng shǒufǎ lái biǎodá gèng shēncéncì de yìjìng. tóngshí, tā hái xuéxí le gè zhǒng shīgē tǐcái, bìng bùduàn de chángshì xīn de biǎodá fāngshì. jīngguò duō nián de nǔlì, lǐ bái zhōngyú dàodá le ‘xī zì rú jīn’ de jìngjiè, tā de shīgē yǔyán biàn de gèngjiā jīngliàn, yìjìng gèngjiā shēnyuǎn, chéngwéi hòushì xuéxí de diǎnfàn.

Li Bai, the great Tang Dynasty poet, created a large number of poems in his lifetime. His poems are characterized by concise language and profound meaning, and he is known as the "immortal poet". However, Li Bai was not always like this. When he was young, he also wrote some lengthy poems that were filled with wordiness and lacked charm. Once, an old Zen master pointed out to him, saying, "Writing poetry is like alchemy, refining words to the utmost to reach the realm of being economical with words."

Usage

用于形容说话或写作简练，不浪费笔墨。

yòng yú xiáoróng shuō huà huò xiě zuò jiǎnliàn, bù làngfèi bǐmò

Used to describe someone who speaks or writes concisely and doesn't waste words.

Examples

• 他说话惜字如金，很少废话。

  tā shuō huà xī zì rú jīn, hěn shǎo fèi huà

  He is economical with words; he rarely talks nonsense.

• 这篇论文惜字如金，每一句话都非常精炼。

  zhè piān lùnwén xī zì rú jīn, měi yī jù huà dōu fēicháng jīngliàn

  This paper is concise and precise; every sentence is carefully chosen.

Related Idioms

• 惜墨如金

• 言简意赅

Opposite Idioms

• 夸夸其谈

• 滔滔不绝