天上下刀子

tiānshàngxiàdāozi
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 lit. knives rain down from the sky
  2. 2 fig. no matter what disaster happens; come hell or high water

Examples

Jiùshì tiānshàngxiàdāozi, wǒ yě yào qù kàn yǎnchànghuì.
Even if knives rain from the sky, I'm going to that concert.
Tiānshàngxiàdāozi yě děi bǎ huò sòng dào.
Come hell or high water, the goods have to be delivered.

Tips

usage
Colloquial set phrase, almost always paired with (yě, 'still / even so') to mean 'I'll do it no matter what'. The image is so absurd that it underlines absolute determination.
memory
Picture cartoon knives falling from the clouds — the speaker keeps walking anyway. The more ridiculous the disaster, the stronger the resolve.

Stroke Order

tiān
shàng
xià
dāo