DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT
強扭的瓜不甜
简 强扭的瓜不甜 · 繁 強扭的瓜不甜Mandarin · pinyin qiǎng niǔ de guā bù tián
Meanings
- lit. if you have to use force to break a melon off the vine, it won't taste sweet (because it's only when the melon is ripe that it can be removed with just a slight twist) (idiom)
- fig. if sth is not meant to be, it's no use trying to force it to happen
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Mandarin tones
3–3–5–1–4–2 · qiang3 niu3 de5 gua1 bu4 tian2
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Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.Read this spelling in Classical texts
Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.
強扭的瓜不甜 · find source passages ↗ · 强扭的瓜不甜 · find source passages ↗
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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section
Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.
proverb
- something done grudgingly will not produce satisfactory results
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
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