得寸进尺

得寸進尺

décùn-jìnchǐ

idiom #16,310

Meanings

1 give him an inch and he'll want a mile
2 not satisfied with small gains
3 to push one's luck

Characters

to get; to obtain

inch (Chinese unit)

to advance; to enter

foot (Chinese unit, ~33cm)

Examples

HSK 1

你不能对他太好，他会得寸进尺的。

Nǐ bùnéng duì tā tài hǎo, tā huì décùn-jìnchǐ de.

You can't be too nice to him, he'll push his luck.

HSK 4

他已经够过分了，还想得寸进尺。

Tā yǐjīng gòu guòfèn le, hái xiǎng décùn-jìnchǐ.

He's already gone too far, and still wants to push for more.

Tips

memory

得 (get) 寸 (an inch) 进 (advance to) 尺 (a foot). Win an inch, demand a foot. The Chinese system uses 寸 and 尺, where 1尺 = 10寸 - so the greed multiplies tenfold.

Stroke Order

得 de

寸 cùn

进 jìn

尺 chǐ