摔跟头 (shuāi gēn tou) — (literal) to fall down, to trip and fall; (figurative) to suffer a setback, to make a costly mistake
Definition
A vivid verb meaning 'to fall down' (literally) or 'to suffer a setback' (figuratively) — often used as 摔过跟头 to mean 'have learned the hard way'.
verb
(literal) to fall downto trip and fall(figurative) to suffer a setbackto make a costly mistake
Examples
- ，。Tā zǒu lù méi zhù yì, shuāi le yí gè dà gēn tou.He wasn't paying attention while walking and took a hard fall.
- ，。Wǒ zài nà jiàn shì shàng shuāi guò gēn tou, hòu lái jiù xiǎo xīn duō le.I made a mistake on that matter before, and after that I've been much more careful.
- 摔跟头，。Zuò tóu zī hěn róng yì shuāi gēn tou, yí dìng yào jǐn shèn.It's very easy to trip up in investing; you must be cautious.
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