落井下石
luò jǐng xià shí
to kick someone who is down
Character by character
落luò
fallen in
fallen in
井jǐng
the well
the well
下xià
drop
drop
石shí
stones
stones
Example
朋友有困难的时候，不能落井下石。
When a friend is in trouble, you mustn't kick them while they're down.
Tone: negative (criticism).
Usage and origin
From Han Yu's epitaph for Liu Zongyuan, on false friends who push you into the pit and then drop stones.
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