![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2012\/06\/horsehorse-300x178.jpg\")
<\/a>Is it a tiger, or a horse?<\/p><\/div>\n
This everyday Chinese idiom literally translates to “horse horse tiger tiger.” As with most Chinese idioms, there’s a very interesting story behind this one. Back in the Song Dynasty, there was a painter whose work was quite abstract and was not understood by others. One day, he painted a tiger’s head. Shortly thereafter, one of his friends arrived. His friend asked him to paint a horse, so the painter just went ahead and added a horse’s body to the tiger’s head. The man’s elder son asked him, “What’s this painting of, Dad?” and the painter said, “It’s a tiger!” Later on, his younger son asked him the same question, to which the painter replied, “It’s a horse!” The elder son was out hunting one day when he saw a horse. Mistaking the horse for a tiger, he shot and killed it. As a result, the painter had to pay the horse’s owner a handsome sum of money. As if that wasn’t bad enough, his younger son was out one day when he saw a tiger. Mistaking the tiger for a horse, he tried to ride it. Not surprisingly, the tiger ate the little boy. Sad and distraught, the painter burned his horse-tiger painting.<\/p>\n
Meaning:<\/em> Something is just so-so or mediocre; a careless person.<\/p>\nUse:<\/em> It can be used to describe someone as careless, for example: “I’m a careless person<\/strong>” (\u6211\u662f\u4e2a\u9a6c\u9a6c\u864e\u864e\u7684\u4eba – w\u01d2 sh\u00ec g\u00e8 m\u01ce m\u01ce h\u01d4 h\u01d4 de r\u00e9n), or it can be used to describe something as mediocre, such as: “My Chinese is just so-so<\/strong>” (\u6211\u7684\u4e2d\u6587\u9a6c\u9a6c\u864e\u864e – w\u01d2 de zh\u014dng w\u00e9n m\u01ce m\u01ce h\u01d4 h\u01d4).<\/p>\n