Chinese practice
螳臂擋車
(tang2 bi4 dang3 che1)
Photo: Paul cooper, Taipei Times
照片：台北時報記者古德謙攝
A mantis trying to stop a chariot
螳螂是一種昆蟲，頭部成三角形，眼球突，前腳成鋸齒狀又特別發達。雖然螳螂是一種掠食者，在昆蟲世界中也相當兇惡，可是仍還是一種昆蟲，與其他的動物比起來其實沒什麼。因此，當它遇到比它還強的動物時，得小心不該低估對方。
莊子是中國戰國時代的著名思想家、哲學家，是道家學派的代表人物。螳臂擋車的概念源自於莊子所寫的莊子「人間世」，文中寫道「汝不知夫螳螂乎？怒其臂以當車轍，不知其不勝任也」一句。
「螳臂擋車」成語也可作為「螳臂擋轅」，其中螳是螳螂，擋是阻擋，所以全句的字面意思是指螳螂舉起前肢以阻擋車輪，用以譬如某人自不量力做超出能力範圍的事情，必然失敗。另外有「蚍蜉撼樹」，與螳臂擋車的用法雷同。
英文中也有類似的說法，就是“underestimate your opponent” 或 “bite off more than you can chew”。
（台北時報記者古德謙整理）
他想要一個人與惡勢力對抗，下場可能就像螳臂擋車一樣。
(He thinks he can oppose those criminals single-handedly. Next time he may find he’s bitten off more than he can chew.)
那家小公司也想和我們競爭，真是螳臂擋車。
(That tiny company thinks it can compete with us. I think they are a bit too confident for their own good.)
英文練習
underestimate someone; bite off more than you can chew
The “praying” mantis has a triangular head, bulging eyes, and two serrated, very developed forelimbs. A predator, in the insect world it is probably very intimidating. It is still an insect, however, and relatively weak compared to other animals. When it comes across an animal that is stronger than it is, it should be careful not to underestimate its opponent.
Zhuangzi was a renowned thinker and philosopher from China’s Warring States period, and is representative of the Taoist school of thought. The concept behind the Chinese idiom 螳臂擋車 originates from the “The World of Men” chapter of the Zhuangzi. In the text it says 「汝不知夫螳螂乎？怒其臂以當車轍，不知其不勝任也。」(Do you know of the praying mantis? It angrily stretches out its arms to stop a carriage, unaware that it will be unable to do so.”
The idiom can also be written 螳臂擋轅. It literally means a mantis raising its forelimbs to block the passage of an oncoming carriage, and can be used as a metaphor for someone overestimating their strength, who has perhaps bitten off more than they can chew, and is doomed to fail. There is another idiom, 蚍蜉撼樹 — literally “an ant trying to shake a tree” — with a very similar meaning.
In English, we can use the phrase “underestimate your opponent” or “bite off more than you can chew.”
(Paul Cooper, Taipei Times)
I’ve accepted too much work. I think this time I’ve bitten off more than I can chew.
（我接下太多工作，我想這次有點不自量力。）
Don’t underestimate me. I can make trouble for you.
（別低估我，小心我會找你麻煩。）
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