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

酒 jiǔ
逢 féng
知 zhī
己 jǐ
千 qiān
杯 bēi
少 shǎo