你敢给他们一尺 他们就敢要一丈
“Give them an inch, and they'll ask for a mile.”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
要我看呀 老戏班子的臭毛病又死灰复燃了
“The way I see it, the old opera troupe's bad habits are back.”
你敢 给他们一尺 他们就敢要一丈
“Give them an inch, and they'll ask for a mile.”
“Give them a little, and they push it. Then they'll get cocky again.”
“Don't compromise at all; give them an inch and they will take a mile.”
Reflects the pragmatic fear in Chinese group management that granting exceptional favors disrupts discipline and invites endless escalating requests.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
give an inch, take a yard / give an inch, take a mile
Derived from the proverb 得寸进尺, used to describe people whose greed escalates when accommodated.
if you dare to..., they will dare to...
A parallel rhetorical construction used to emphasize an immediate and proportional escalation by the other side.
VOCABULARY & EXPRESSIONS
Parallel Spoken Cinema Scenes (语义近邻切片)
“dare you stand before them”
“Let's see who dares to come. Go get it.”
“If he's buying, we're selling.”
“They wouldn't dare in a million years.”
“Don't you dare!”
“Don't you know whether I dare to do it or not?”