浅尝辄止 qiǎn cháng zhé zhǐ Shallow taste, then stop

Explanation

浅尝辄止，比喻对事物缺乏深入的了解，只是略微尝试一下就停下来了。就像品尝美食一样，只吃了一口就停下来，无法真正品味它的美味。

This idiom means to try something superficially and then stop, without delving into it further. Like tasting a delicious dish, you only take one bite and then stop, without really savoring its flavor.

Origin Story

在一个古老的村庄里，住着一位名叫李明的书生。李明从小就喜欢读书，但他的性格却有些急躁，常常是看到新奇的书籍就迫不及待地翻阅，但一旦遇到难懂的章节，便会立刻失去兴趣，然后就将其束之高阁。 一天，李明在书店里看到了一本名为《百草集》的医书，书中记载了各种草药的功效和使用方法，这让李明十分兴奋，他迫不及待地买下了这本医书，并开始认真地阅读起来。 起初，李明对这本书充满了兴趣，他津津有味地读着每一页，并努力地记住了书中的内容。然而，随着阅读的深入，李明发现书中的内容越来越复杂，而且很多草药的功效和使用方法都需要他反复思考和实验才能真正理解。 李明渐渐地感到厌烦，他觉得学习这些知识太枯燥乏味了，于是便放弃了继续学习。他把《百草集》放在了书架上，并对自己说：“这些医术太难了，我以后再学吧。” 就这样，李明浅尝辄止地放弃了学习医术，他以为自己能够轻松地获得成功，却不知这只是他一厢情愿的想法。

zài yī gè gǔ lǎo de cūn zhuāng lǐ, zhù zhe yī wèi míng jiào lǐ míng de shū shēng. lǐ míng cóng xiǎo jiù xǐ huan dú shū, dàn tā de xíng gé què yǒu xiē jí zào, cháng cháng shì kàn dào xīn qí de shū jí jiù pò bù jí dài de fān yuè, dàn yī dàn yù dào nán dǒng de zhāng jié, biàn huì lì kè shī qù xìng qù, rán hòu jiù jiāng qí shù zhī gāo gé. yī tiān, lǐ míng zài shū diàn lǐ kàn dào le yī běn míng wéi 《bǎi cǎo jí》 de yī shū, shū zhōng jì zǎi le gè zhǒng cǎo yào de gōng xiào hé shǐ yòng fāng fǎ, zhè ràng lǐ míng shí fēn xīng fèn, tā pò bù jí dài de mǎi xià le zhè běn yī shū, bìng kāi shǐ rèn zhēn de yuè dú qǐ lái. qǐ chū, lǐ míng duì zhè běn shū chōng mǎn le xìng qù, tā jīn jīn yǒu wèi de dú zhe měi yī yè, bìng nǔ lì de jì zhù le shū zhōng de nèi róng. rán ér, suī zhe yuè dú de shēn rù, lǐ míng fā xiàn shū zhōng de nèi róng yuè lái yuè fù zá, ér qiě hěn duō cǎo yào de gōng xiào hé shǐ yòng fāng fǎ dōu xū yào tā fǎn fù sī kǎo hé shí yàn cái néng zhēn zhèng lǐ jiě. lǐ míng jiàn jiàn de gǎn dào yàn fán, tā jué de xué xí zhè xiē zhī shì tài kū zào fá wèi le, yú shì biàn fàng qì le jì xù xué xí. tā bǎ 《bǎi cǎo jí》 fàng zài le shū jià shàng, bìng duì zì jǐ shuō: “zhè xiē yī shù tài nán le, wǒ yǐ hòu zài xué ba.” jiù zhè yàng, lǐ míng qiǎn cháng zhé zhǐ de fàng qì le xué xí yī shù, tā yǐ wéi zì jǐ néng qīng sōng de huò dé chéng gōng, què bù zhī zhè zhǐ shì tā yī xiāng qíng yuàn de xiǎng fǎ.

In an ancient village, there lived a scholar named Li Ming. Li Ming loved to read since he was a child, but he was a little impatient. He would often flip through new books impatiently, but once he encountered difficult chapters, he would immediately lose interest and then put them away. One day, Li Ming saw a book called ,

Usage

“浅尝辄止”可以用来形容一个人对某件事缺乏兴趣，或者害怕困难，没有毅力坚持下去，只做表面功夫，没有深入研究。比如，学习新知识时，只看个大概，没有认真思考和练习，最后就放弃了；工作中，遇到挑战就退缩，没有勇气去克服困难。

qiǎn cháng zhé zhǐ kě yǐ yòng lái xíng róng yī gè rén duì mǒu jiàn shì quē fá xìng qù, huò zhě hái pà kùn nan, méi yǒu yì lì jiān chí xià qù, zhǐ zuò biǎo miàn gōng fū, méi yǒu shēn rù yán jiū. bǐ rú, xué xí xīn zhī shì shí, zhǐ kàn gè dà gài, méi yǒu rèn zhēn sī kǎo hé liàn xí, zuì hòu jiù fàng qì le; gōng zuò zhōng, yù dào tiǎo zhàn jiù tuì suō, méi yǒu yǒng qì qù kè fú kùn nan.

“Shallow taste, then stop” can be used to describe a person who lacks interest in something or is afraid of difficulties, lacks the perseverance to persevere, only does superficial work, and does not conduct in-depth research. For example, when learning new knowledge, only look at it roughly, without serious thinking and practice, and finally give up; at work, retreat when faced with challenges, and lack the courage to overcome difficulties.

Examples

• 学习不能浅尝辄止，要深入钻研。

  xué xí bù néng qiǎn cháng zhé zhǐ, yào shēn rù zuàn yán.

  Learning should not be superficial, but should be in-depth.

• 他只是对这门课程浅尝辄止，并没有深入研究。

  tā zhǐ shì duì zhè mén kè chéng qiǎn cháng zhé zhǐ, bìng méi yǒu shēn rù yán jiū.

  He only skimmed the surface of this course, did not study it in depth.

• 不要对新事物浅尝辄止，要深入探索。

  bù yào duì xīn shì wù qiǎn cháng zhé zhǐ, yào shēn rù tàn suǒ.

  Don't be superficial with new things, explore them in depth.

Related Idioms

• 半途而废

• 蜻蜓点水

• 浮光掠影

Opposite Idioms

• 持之以恒

• 精益求精