they; them

as the proverb says / as they say...

jackals of the same tribe (idiom); fig. They are all just as bad as each other.

legend; folk tale / to repeat from mouth to mouth; they say that...

(classical) this, that / he, she, they / (exclamatory final particle) / (initial particle, introduces an opinion)

when things reach an extreme, they can only move in the opposite direction (idiom)

other people / sb else / he, she or they / I, me (referring to oneself as "one" or "people")

they; them (females)

potion given to souls by the goddess Meng Po 孟婆 before they are reincarnated that makes them forget their previous existence

lit. unable to distinguish eldest brother from second brother (idiom); they are all equally excellent / nothing to choose between them

lit. family members speak frankly with one another, not courteously, as if they were from two different families (idiom) / fig. people don't need to be deferential when they ask a family member for help / people from the same family should stick together (and good friends likewise)

lit. three monks have no water to drink (idiom) / fig. everybody's business is nobody's business / (If there is one monk, he will fetch water for himself. If there are two, they will fetch water together. But if there are three or more, none will take it upon himself to fetch water.)

(idiom based on Sunzi's "The Art of War" 孫子兵法｜孙子兵法) to deploy one's troops in such a way that there is no possibility of retreat, so that they will fight for their lives and win the battle; to fight desperately when confronted with mortal danger; to find a way to emerge from a dire situation

to take things as they are (idiom) / to leave a situation as it is / to be happy with the status quo

to triumph in every battle and win every fight (idiom); all-conquering / ever victorious / nothing they can't do

to rob sb of sth they cherish (idiom)

winter bamboo shoots (smaller and tenderer as a result of being dug out before they come out of the soil)

to let things take their course / to take things as they come

when two kingdoms are at war, they don't execute envoys (idiom)

men and women should not touch hands when they give or receive things (citation, from Mencius)

(archaic) agate / (bound form) standard weight used with a balance scale / number / (computing) code / (clothing) size / yard (unit of length) / (coll.) kilometers per hour (informal misuse of "yard" to mean kph in speed references) / (coll.) to pile up; to stack / classifier for matters, items, situations etc (esp. when indicating whether they are the same or different, as in 不是一碼事｜不是一码事 "not the same thing") / (Tw, HK) (finance) unit of 25 basis points (i.e. a 0.25% change in interest rate)

both sides claim they're right (idiom)

as they say, ... / as the saying goes, ...

(after a pronoun or name) what (you, they etc) say is true

to apply (sth hitherto used in a different context) / to use (rules, systems, models etc copied from elsewhere) (often implying that they aren't suited to the new situation) / to borrow (a phrase) / (Tw) (computing) to apply (a style, formatting etc)

Since they have come, we should make them comfortable (idiom). Since we're here, take it easy. / Since this is so, we should accept it. / Now we have come, let's stay and take the rough with the smooth. / If you can't do anything to prevent it, you might as well sit back and enjoy it.

it is said / allegedly / according to reports / or so they say

to let sb do whatever they want / to indulge / to give free reins to / to let things slide / to drift aimlessly / laissez-faire

to triumph in every battle and win every fight (idiom); all-conquering / ever victorious / nothing they can't do

banquet where guests arrive at various times and are served with food as they arrive

they; them

lit. there are many swift horses, but very few who can spot them (proverb) / fig. many have talent, but few can recognize talent when they see it

(I, they etc) of course have (a plan, a way etc) / one's own (apartment, brand etc)

wind direction / the way the wind blows / fig. trend / direction of events / how things develop (esp. how they affect oneself) / public opinion (concerning one's actions) / publicity (usually derog.) / limelight

to look after one's aged parents and arrange proper burial after they die

counting one's chickens before they are hatched

(adverbial expression indicating that the attention of the subject of the verb is focused on what they are doing, not distracted by anything else) / just ...ing (and nothing else)

steal the whole country and they make you a prince, steal a hook and they hang you (idiom, from Daoist classic Zhuangzi 莊子｜庄子)

(before a noun) Do (you, they etc) have ...? / Is there a ...? / (before a verb) Did (you, they etc) (verb, infinitive)? / Have (you, they etc) (verb, past participle)?

steal a hook and they hang you, steal the whole country and they make you a prince (idiom, from Daoist classic Zhuangzi 莊子｜庄子)

to intersperse comic dialogue (as they do in operas)

to hold a baby or child while they sleep / to spoon with one's partner

lit. the more you touch things up, the darker they get / fig. to only make matters worse

as the saying goes; as they say...

Welcome! (used by staff to greet customers when they enter a shop or restaurant)

to copy the way they walk in Handan (idiom) / slavishly copying others, one risks becoming a caricature

things are not as good as they used to be

fireworks (i.e. pyrotechnic devices, not the display they produce)

don't forget past events, they can guide you in future (idiom); benefit from past experience

doctors like to treat those who are not sick so that they can get credit for the patient's "recovery" (idiom)

potion given to souls before they are reincarnated, which makes them forget their previous life (aka 孟婆湯｜孟婆汤) / magic potion; (fig.) bewitching words or actions

Beware of suspicious folk bearing gifts, they are sure to be ill-intentioned. (idiom)

(orthography) inconsistent words (e.g. "through", "bough" and "rough", where "-ough" is not pronounced the same in each case) / inconsistent characters (e.g. 流, 梳 and 毓, which are pronounced differently from each other even though they all have the same notional phonetic component)

people who don't belong together, don't get to live together (idiom) / marriages are predestined / people marry because they share common traits

lit. "Why don't they eat meat?" (said by Emperor Hui of Jin 晉惠帝｜晋惠帝 when told that his people didn't have enough rice to eat) / fig. (of people from higher class etc) to be oblivious to other people's plight

to sell an item only as part of a bundle (thereby forcing consumers to buy goods they do not want); to sell on a tie-in basis

lit. the story of the broken mirror of Princess Lechang 樂昌公主｜乐昌公主 (In the tale, the princess and her husband, fearing separation during the turbulence of war, broke a bronze mirror in half. They each kept one half as a token, with the promise to reunite by matching the pieces together. They were indeed separated, but eventually reunited, with the mirror playing a crucial role in their reunion.) (idiom) / fig. the reunion of separated lovers or the restoration of a relationship

unprofitable goods; item that can only be sold at a loss / daughter (so called in former times because daughters required a dowry when they married)

to go with the flow; to accept things as they come

train or coach service ("service" as in "they run 12 services per day between the two cities")

neighborhood telephone, with sb in charge of notifying others when they receive a call

to triumph in every battle and win every fight (idiom); all-conquering / ever victorious / nothing they can't do

"youth freezing", Chinese girls beginning anti-ageing treatments as young as two years old in the hope they will never look old

old situation / things as they were

border control (abbr. for 邊境控制｜边境控制) / to place sb on a border control list (a list of people to be detained if they attempt to enter or leave the country)

(Chinese folk religion) Meng Po, goddess who gives a potion to souls before they are reincarnated, which makes them forget their previous life / (Chinese folk religion) Meng Po, goddess of the wind

spilt water returns to the trough (idiom); fig. people remember where they belong

indirect, psychological method of getting sb to do as one wishes (e.g. questioning whether they are up to the task)

die-hard otaku (sb who hardly ever emerges from their home, where they play games, watch movies etc)