出人头地

出人頭地

chūrén-tóudì

idiom #13,433

Meanings

HSK 3

只要努力，你一定能出人头地。

Zhǐyào nǔlì, nǐ yídìng néng chūrén-tóudì.

As long as you work hard, you'll surely rise above the rest.

HSK 7-9

他从小就立志要出人头地。

Tā cóngxiǎo jiù lìzhì yào chūrén-tóudì.

He aspired to distinguish himself from a young age.

memory

Literally 'out-person-head-ground' - your head rises above the ground where everyone else stands, i.e. you stand out from the crowd.

history

From a letter by Song dynasty writer 苏轼 (Su Shi) praising his teacher 欧阳修 (Ouyang Xiu), saying Ouyang helped him 'emerge above others.'

出 chū

人 rén

头 tóu

地 dì