拋磚引玉
Mandarin
| simpl. | 抛砖引玉 | |
|---|---|---|
| trad. | 拋磚引玉 | |
Etymology
Literally: to throw a brick and to get a piece of jade in return
Idiom
拋磚引玉 (traditional, Pinyin pāo zhuān yǐn yù, simplified 抛砖引玉)
- A self-deprecating way to express the idea of offering one's own relatively worthless words, opinions or services in order to solicit the more valued words, opinions or services of others
- 20多年前，曾琦是第一個到廈門投資的港商，當時他想的就是當一個“拋磚引玉的人”，讓更多的港、澳、台、僑商回國投資。
- More than 20 years ago, Zeng Qi was the first Hong Kong businessman to go to Xiamen to invest. At the time, he thought of himself as a a plain rock that attracts jade, making it possible for even more businessmen from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan to return to the Motherland to invest.
References
- "拋磚引玉" (in Mandarin), Guoyu Cidian On-line Mandarin Dictionary (國語辭典). URL accessed on 2009-05-25.