How to say [X] in Chinese

lit. to have a target in mind when shooting one's arrows (idiom)

communication

有的放矢

yǒu dì fàng shǐ

lit. to have no strategy to apply (idiom)

communication

无计可施

wú jì kě shī

lit. to have one's hands bound and be unable to do anything about it (idiom)

communication

束手无策

shù shǒu wú cè

lit. to have one's nose in the air (idiom)

communication

鼻孔朝天

bí kǒng cháo tiān

lit. to have one's nose rubbed in the dirt

communication

碰一鼻子灰

pèng yì bí zi huī

lit. to hear one and know ten (idiom)

communication

闻一知十

wén yī zhī shí

lit. to hide the sky with one hand

communication

一手遮天

yì shǒu zhē tiān

lit. to hope one's daughter becomes a phoenix (idiom)

communication

望女成凤

wàng nǚ chéng fèng

lit. to hope one's son becomes a dragon (idiom)

communication

望子成龙

wàng zǐ chéng lóng

lit. to invite the devil to one's house (idiom)

social

引鬼上门

yǐn guǐ shàng mén

lit. to loosen one's purse

communication

解囊

jiě náng

lit. to lose one's black hat

communication

丢乌纱帽

diū wū shā mào

lit. to make three visits to the thatched cottage (idiom) (allusion to an episode in Romance of the Three Kingdoms 三國演義|三国演义[San1 guo2 Yan3 yi4] in which Liu Bei 劉備|刘备[Liu2 Bei4] recruits Zhuge Liang 諸葛亮|诸葛亮[Zhu1 ge3 Liang4] to his cause by visiting him three times)

communication

三顾茅庐

sān gù máo lú

lit. to meet face to face on a narrow path (idiom)

social

狭路相逢

xiá lù xiāng féng

lit. to meet those arriving, to send of those departing (idiom)

social

迎来送往

yíng lái sòng wǎng

lit. to move one's hands and feet about (idiom)

communication

手舞足蹈

shǒu wǔ zú dǎo

lit. to open an inn that kills and robs guests (esp. in traditional fiction)

communication

开黑店

kāi hēi diàn

lit. to open one's liver and drip gall (idiom)

communication

披肝沥胆

pī gān lì dǎn

lit. to quench one's thirst by thinking of plums (idiom)

communication

望梅止渴

wàng méi zhǐ kě

lit. to reach the tip and try (idiom)

communication

及锋而试

jí fēng ér shì

lit. to restring one's bow

communication

更张

gèng zhāng

lit. to rub one's nose with dust

communication

抹一鼻子灰

mǒ yì bí zi huī

lit. to see a leopard through a narrow tube (idiom)

social

管中窥豹

guǎn zhōng kuī bào

lit. to see one spot on a leopard

communication

窥豹

kuī bào