邯郸学步 (hán dān xué bù) — to imitate others slavishly and lose one's own skill or identity
Definition
A chengyu warning against blindly copying others until you lose your own ability — from the ancient story of a man who forgot how to walk after imitating Handan styles. It criticizes losing one's identity through slavish imitation.
idiom
to imitate others slavishly and lose one's own skill or identity
Examples
- ，邯郸学步，。Tā shì tú mó fǎng chéng gōng rén shì de jīng yàn, jié guǒ hán dān xué bù, lián zì jǐ de fāng fǎ dōu wàng le.He tried to imitate the experience of successful people, but ended up slavishly imitating them and even forgot his own methods.
- 邯郸学步，。Xué wài yǔ bù néng hán dān xué bù, yào jié hé zì jǐ de shí jì shuǐ píng lái liàn xí.When learning a foreign language, you can't just slavishly imitate others; you need to practice according to your actual level.
- ，邯郸学步。Zhè ge chǎn pǐn wán quán chāo xí guó wài shè jì, jiǎn zhí shì hán dān xué bù.This product completely plagiarizes foreign designs — it's a classic case of slavish imitation.
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