翻来覆去 fān lái fù qù over and over again

Explanation

反复多次，形容事情重复多次

Repeatedly many times, describes something that is repeated many times

Origin Story

从前，有个叫小明的孩子，他晚上做作业总是拖拖拉拉。他开始写作业时，充满热情，写了一会儿后却觉得很烦躁，便放下笔开始玩玩具。玩了一会儿，他又觉得作业还没写完，心里忐忑不安，于是又拿起笔来写作业。可是写了一会后，他又放下笔，去看电视。就这样，小明翻来覆去，作业写得很慢。他一会儿写作业，一会儿又放下；一会看电视，一会又去玩玩具。就这样重复了很多遍，直到深夜才终于完成作业。他非常后悔自己的拖延行为，暗暗下定决心，以后要认真完成作业，不再翻来覆去浪费时间。

cóng qián, yǒu gè jiào xiǎo míng de háizi, tā wǎnshang zuò zuòyè zǒngshì tuō tuō lā lā. tā kāishǐ xiě zuòyè shí, chōngmǎn rèqíng, xiě le yīhuǐr hòu què juéde hěn fánzào, biàn fàng xià bǐ kāishǐ wán wánjù. wán le yīhuǐr, tā yòu juéde zuòyè hái méi xiě wán, xīn lǐ tǎntè bù'ān, yúshì yòu ná qǐ bǐ lái xiě zuòyè. kěshì xiě le yī huìr hòu, tā yòu fàng xià bǐ, qù kàn diànshì. jiù zhèyàng, xiǎo míng fān lái fù qù, zuòyè xiě de hěn màn. tā yīhuǐr xiě zuòyè, yīhuǐr yòu fàng xià; yī huì kàn diànshì, yī huì yòu qù wán wánjù. jiù zhèyàng chóngfù le hěn duō biàn, zhídào shēnyè cái zhōngyú wánchéng zuòyè. tā fēicháng hòuhuǐ zìjǐ de tuōyán xíngwéi, àn'àn xià dìng juéxīn, yǐhòu yào rènzhēn wánchéng zuòyè, bù zài fān lái fù qù làngfèi shíjiān.

Once upon a time, there was a child named Xiaoming who always procrastinated on his homework at night. When he started doing his homework, he was full of enthusiasm. After a while, he felt annoyed and put down his pen to play with toys. After a while, he felt that his homework was not yet finished, and he felt uneasy, so he picked up his pen again to do his homework. But after a while, he put down his pen again and watched TV. So it went on, Xiaoming did his homework very slowly. Sometimes he did his homework, sometimes he put it away, sometimes he watched TV, sometimes he played with toys. This was repeated many times until late at night when he finally finished his homework. He deeply regretted his procrastination and secretly vowed to seriously complete his homework in the future and stop wasting time to and fro.

Usage

常用来形容事情或动作的重复、反复

cháng yòng lái xíngróng shìqíng huò dòngzuò de chóngfù, fǎnfù

Often used to describe the repetition or repetition of things or actions

Examples

  • 他翻来覆去睡不着觉。

    tā fān lái fù qù shuì bu zháo jiào

    He tossed and turned and couldn't sleep.

  • 这件事我翻来覆去想了好几天，还是没有想明白

    zhè jiàn shì wǒ fān lái fù qù xiǎng le hǎo jǐ tiān, háishi méiyǒu xiǎng míng bai

    I've been thinking about this for days, and I still can't figure it out

Related Idioms

  • 辗转反侧

  • 反复无常

Opposite Idioms

  • 一成不变

  • 墨守成规