相提并论
- Literal
- to bring up together and judge at once
- Figurative
- To put two things on the same level and judge them together as if comparable — often used precisely to deny that they are.
Where does 相提并论 come from?
In 150 BCE, Emperor Jing of the Han deposed his heir, Liu Rong. Dou Ying, marquis of Weiqi and the prince's tutor, argued against the decision and got nowhere; he then pleaded illness and withdrew to the foot of the southern mountains at Lantian, and no one could talk him back. Then Gao Sui, a man of Liang, put it to him this way: you could not stop the removal, you neither pressed the argument to the end nor died for it, and now you keep away from court; set those two things side by side and judge them at once —相提而论— and what you are doing is advertising the sovereign's mistake. Dou Ying took the point and went back to court. The form with 并 in place of 而 settled later, and today the phrase is heard mostly in the negative: 不能相提并论, "they can't be equated."
Source (出处): 《史记·魏其武安侯列传》
How is 相提并论 used? Two examples
- 这两部电影质量差太多，不能相提并论。
These two movies are so far apart in quality that you can't put them in the same league.
- 他刚学了半年，不该跟专业演员相提并论。
He's only been at it six months; he shouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as a professional actor.
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