佛出世

fóchūshì

idiom

Meanings

1 once in a blue moon
2 as rare as a Buddha's appearance in the world
3 a once-in-an-age event

Characters

to come out, emerge

Examples

他肯主动请客，真是佛出世。

Tā kěn zhǔdòng qǐngkè, zhēn shì fóchūshì.

Him offering to treat? That's a once-in-a-blue-moon event.

这种机会佛出世难逢，你可别错过。

Zhè zhǒng jīhuì fóchūshì nán féng, nǐ kě bié cuòguò.

An opportunity this rare comes once in an age. Don't miss it.

Tips

culture

In Buddhist thought, a Buddha appears in the world only once in uncountable aeons. 佛出世 borrows that to emphasize extreme rarity. Literary and somewhat archaic.

Stroke Order

佛 Fó

出 chū

世 shì