Two of a Kind

Characters:

Pronunciation: nan(4) xiong(1) nan(4) di(4)
Explanation: Meaning brothers with the same ability and virtue. Later it described people in the same boat and struggling in difficulties together.

Tone: Neutral

The Story: In the East Han Dynasty, there was a scholar named Chen Shi. He had two sons, one was Yuanfang, the other was Jifang. The three were well respected and people called them 'The Three Gentlemen'.

One day, the son of Yuanfang and the son of Jifang were arguing about their fathers. Each of them thought their own father was better than the other's. At last, they went to their grandfather Chen Shi for the answer. After hearing their argument, Chen Shi said: "Yuanfang and Jifang are two of a kind, it is not easy to tell who is superior."

Usage Example (Pinyin): Zhan(4) dou(4) zhi(1) hou(4), ta(1) men(2) cheng(2) le nan(4) xiong(1) nan(4) di(4).

Usage Example (English translation): After the battle, they became two of a kind.

Note: The spoken Chinese Mandarin language has 4 spoken tones. We have attempted to re-create those above where after each syllable we tell you (1), (2), (3), or (4) as they correspond to each of the 4 tones. We encourage you to complement your Xianzai.com Chinese Idioms newsletter with a good offline study program.