八九不离十

八九不離十

bājiǔbùlíshí

idiom #35,809

Meanings

我猜他的年龄，八九不离十。

Wǒ cāi tā de niánlíng, bājiǔbùlíshí.

My guess at his age is pretty close.

你的答案八九不离十。

Nǐ de dá'àn bājiǔbùlíshí.

Your answer is almost right.

这事儿我估计得八九不离十。

Zhè shìr wǒ gūjì de bājiǔbùlíshí.

I'd say my estimate of this is pretty much on the money.

memory

Literally 'eight or nine, not far from ten' — you're in the 80-90% range, close enough to 10 (full/perfect) that you've nailed it.

Colloquial. Very common in speech, especially northern dialects. Often used with 猜 (guess) or 估计 (estimate).

八 bā

九 jiǔ

不 bù

离 lí

十 shí