磨刀霍霍 mó dāo huò huò Sharpening knives

Explanation

形容磨刀发出的声音，现多形容敌人或坏人在行动前磨刀霍霍，跃跃欲试的样子，也比喻准备做坏事或进行攻击。

Describes the sound of sharpening knives, now often used to describe the appearance of enemies or villains sharpening their knives before acting, eager to try, also used to refer to preparing to do bad things or attack.

Origin Story

话说很久以前，在一个偏僻的山村里，住着一对老夫妇，他们靠务农为生。有一天，山村里来了一个强盗，他凶狠残暴，经常抢劫村民的财物，村民们都对他恨之入骨，但又无可奈何。老夫妇的儿子，从小就习武，身强力壮，武艺高强。他看到强盗如此嚣张，心中怒火中烧，决定为民除害。于是，他关上门，磨刀霍霍，准备与强盗决一死战。他把家里的菜刀，磨得雪亮，刀刃锋利无比。他练好刀法，然后，他悄悄地潜入强盗的巢穴，与强盗展开了一场殊死搏斗。经过一番激烈的打斗，他终于战胜了强盗，村民们都拍手称快，从此过上了安宁的生活。

huà shuō hěn jiǔ yǐ qián, zài yīgè piānpì de shāncūn lǐ, zhù zhe yī duì lǎo fūfù, tāmen kào wù nóng wéi shēng. yǒu yī tiān, shāncūn lǐ lái le yīgè qiángdào, tā xiōnghěn cánbào, jīngcháng qiǎngjié cūnmín de cáiwù, cūnmínmen dōu duì tā hèn zhī rù gǔ, dàn yòu wú kě nài hé. lǎo fūfù de érzi, cóng xiǎo jiù xí wǔ, shēn qiáng lì zhuàng, wǔ yì gāo qiáng. tā kàn dào qiángdào rúcǐ xiāo zhāng, xīn zhōng nù huǒ zhōng shāo, juédìng wèi mín chú hài. yú shì, tā guān shàng mén, mó dāo huò huò, zhǔnbèi yǔ qiángdào jué yī sǐ zhàn. tā bǎ jiā lǐ de cài dāo, mó de xuě liàng, dāorèn fēng lì wú bǐ. tā liàn hǎo dāo fǎ, ránhòu, tā qiāoqiāo de qiányán qiángdào de cháoxué, yǔ qiángdào zhǎnkāi le yī chǎng shū sǐ bódòu. jīng guò yī fān jīliè de dǎdòu, tā zhōng yú zhàn shèng le qiángdào, cūnmínmen dōu pāi shǒu chēng kuài, cóng cǐ guò shàng le ānníng de shēnghuó.

Once upon a time, in a remote mountain village, there lived an old couple who made their living by farming. One day, a robber came to the mountain village. He was fierce and cruel, often robbing the villagers of their property. The villagers all hated him, but they were helpless. The old couple's son had been practicing martial arts since he was a child. He was strong and had superb martial arts skills. When he saw the robber being so arrogant, he was filled with anger and decided to eliminate the harm for the people. So, he closed the door, sharpened his knife and prepared to fight the robber to the death. He sharpened his kitchen knife until it was shining brightly and the blade was extremely sharp. After practicing his knife skills, he secretly sneaked into the robber's lair and fought a life-or-death battle with the robber. After a fierce fight, he finally defeated the robber, and the villagers all applauded and lived in peace from then on.

Usage

多用于形容敌人或坏人在行动前的准备状态，也用于比喻兴致勃勃地准备做某事。

duō yòng yú xíngróng dírén huò huài rén zài xíngdòng qián de zhǔnbèi zhuàngtài, yě yòng yú bǐ yù xìngzhì bó bó de zhǔnbèi zuò mǒushì.

Mostly used to describe the preparatory state of enemies or villains before acting, also used to describe the excited preparation for a certain thing.

Examples

• 敌军磨刀霍霍，准备进攻。

  dí jūn mó dāo huò huò, zhǔnbèi jìngōng

  The enemy is sharpening their swords, preparing to attack.

• 他磨刀霍霍，准备大干一场。

  tā mó dāo huò huò, zhǔnbèi dà gàn yī chǎng

  He sharpened his knives, preparing for a big task

Related Idioms

• 磨拳擦掌

• 跃跃欲试

Opposite Idioms

• 束手无策

• 坐以待毙