白驹过隙

bái jū guò xì

time flies; life passes in a flash

Character by character

白bái
white

驹jū
colt

过guò
pass

隙xì
crack

时间真是白驹过隙，一转眼孩子都上大学了。

Time really flies: in the blink of an eye the kids are at university.

Tone: neutral.

From 《庄子》: a life is like a white colt glimpsed darting past a crack in the wall. Bookish; in speech people say 时间过得真快 or 光阴似箭.

Learn this in Lesson 214 · HSK 9+: 生肖与干支 (The zodiac and the sixty-year cycle)

A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.