五体投地
- Literal
- five parts of the body cast to the ground
- Figurative
- To admire someone without reservation, to bow down before their talent; usually said with some exaggeration, as in 佩服得五体投地.
Where does 五体投地 come from?
It does not come from an anecdote: it is the name of the most reverent Buddhist prostration, brought from India, in which five parts of the body touch the ground (both knees, both hands, and the forehead). The phrase appears in Chinese Buddhist texts, for instance the 《楞严经》, where Ananda prostrates himself this way before the Buddha. From the gesture the idiom moved to admiration: not actually bowing down, but admitting that someone is far beyond us. It usually appears in the formula 佩服得五体投地, "to admire someone to the point of lying prostrate," often with fond or joking exaggeration.
Source (出处): 《楞严经》
How is 五体投地 used? Two examples
- 他三分钟就把电脑修好了，我佩服得五体投地。
He fixed my computer in three minutes; I'm in total awe.
- 她一边带两个孩子一边考下了律师证，同事们都佩服得五体投地。
She passed the bar while raising two kids, and her colleagues are in absolute awe of her.
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