一板一眼

yībǎnyīyǎn
idiom #34,042

Meanings

  1. 1 methodical and by the book
  2. 2 careful and precise; sometimes overly rigid

Examples

Tā zuòshì yī bǎn yī yǎn, cóngbù mǎhu.
He does things by the book and is never sloppy.
Tā jiǎng huà yī bǎn yī yǎn, xiàng zài niàn gǎo.
She speaks so stiffly and methodically, as if reading from a script.

Tips

culture
originally refers to the strong () and weak () beats in Chinese opera and traditional music. Keeping to meant staying on beat, and the phrase carried into everyday speech meaning 'strictly by the rules'.

Stroke Order

bǎn
yǎn