酒逢知己千杯少

jiǔféngzhījǐqiānbēishǎo
idiom

Meanings

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

Examples

HSK 3
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!'
HSK 7-9
Jīnwǎn hé lǎopéngyou chóngféng, zhēnshì 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》 (by 吴璿): 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 is the perfect counterweight, invoke it when conversation falls flat.

Stroke Order

jiǔ
féng
zhī
qiān
bēi
shǎo