标新立异
- Literal
- hold up the new, set up the different
- Figurative
- To go out of one's way to be new and different; today usually a criticism of someone who stands apart just to get noticed.
Where does 标新立异 come from?
It comes from the 《世说新语》, in the chapter “文学”. It tells how the monk Zhi Dun, of the Eastern Jin dynasty, was discussing “Free and Easy Wandering”, the first chapter of the 《庄子》, at the White Horse Temple, and put forward new ideas about it that went beyond the two standard commentaries and departed from what all the learned men had said, something they had not reached however much they pondered it. From then on his reading was the one people followed. In the text it was praise; today the phrase is mostly used critically, of someone who tries to be different just to attract attention.
Source (出处): 《世说新语·文学》
How is 标新立异 used? Two examples
- 她穿得与众不同，却不是为了标新立异，只是真心喜欢。
She dresses unlike anyone else, but not to be different for the sake of it; she genuinely likes it that way.
- 做产品不能只为了标新立异，用户用着顺手才是关键。
When you build a product, being different just to stand out isn't the point; what matters is that users find it easy to use.
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