生搬硬套

shēngbānyìngtào

idiom #56,101

Meanings

1 to mechanically copy and apply
2 to force a rigid fit
3 to imitate without adapting

Characters

Examples

学习外国经验不能生搬硬套。

Xuéxí wàiguó jīngyàn bùnéng shēngbān yìngtào.

You can't mechanically copy foreign practices when learning from them.

他只会生搬硬套，缺乏创新。

Tā zhǐ huì shēngbān yìngtào, quēfá chuàngxīn.

All he does is rigidly copy — he lacks any originality.

写作时生搬硬套名言只会显得生硬。

Xiězuò shí shēngbān yìngtào míngyán zhǐ huì xiǎnde shēngyìng.

Shoehorning famous quotes into your writing just makes it stiff.

Tips

usage

Strongly negative — criticizes failure to adapt. Common in education, business, and political writing, especially about borrowing foreign models or old templates.

Stroke Order

生 shēng

搬 bān

硬 yìng

套 tào