酒逢知己千杯少

jiǔféngzhījǐqiānbēishǎo

idiom

Meanings

1 a thousand cups of wine are too few when drinking with a kindred spirit
2 with true friends, no amount of drinking is enough

Characters

to meet / encounter

Examples

老张笑着说：酒逢知己千杯少，咱们再来一杯！

Lǎo Zhāng xiào zhe shuō: jiǔféngzhījǐqiānbēishǎo, zánmen zài lái yì bēi!

Old Zhang smiled and said: 'A thousand cups are too few among kindred spirits — let's have another!'

今晚和老朋友重逢，真是酒逢知己千杯少。

Jīnwǎn hé lǎo péngyou chóngféng, zhēn shì jiǔféngzhījǐqiānbēishǎo.

Reuniting with old friends tonight — truly, no amount of wine is too much among true friends.

Tips

history

From the Qing-era novel 《飞龙全传》 (Feilong Quanzhuan, by 吴璿 Wu Xuan): the full couplet runs 酒逢知己千杯少，话不投机半句多 — 'with kindred spirits, a thousand cups are few; with the wrong company, half a sentence is too many.' The two halves are still often quoted together.

usage

A toast or excuse to keep drinking with close friends. The companion line 话不投机半句多 (huà bù tóu jī bàn jù duō) is the perfect counterweight — invoke it when conversation falls flat.

Stroke Order

酒 jiǔ

逢 féng

知 zhī

己 jǐ

千 qiān

杯 bēi

少 shǎo