心灵手巧
xīn líng shǒu qiǎo
quick-witted and clever with one’s hands
Character by character
心xīn
mind
mind
灵líng
nimble
nimble
手shǒu
hand
hand
巧qiǎo
skilful
skilful
Example
奶奶心灵手巧，一张红纸剪几下就成了一只蝴蝶。
Grandma is so deft that a few snips turn a sheet of red paper into a butterfly.
Tone: positive (praise).
Usage and origin
Praise for handicraft, cooking, sewing, paper-cutting and repair work. It was once said mainly of girls and women; now it is said of anyone, and in advertising even of robots: 心灵手巧的机器人.
Learn this in Lesson 73 · HSK 6: 机器人与低空经济 (Robots, drones and the low-altitude economy)
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.
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