Rotten wood is hard to carve

you can 't teach an old dog new tricks

Rotten wood is hard to carve, Chinese idiom, Pinyin is Xi ǔ m ù n á NDI ā o, refers to rotten wood is difficult to carve, people can not make or things can not be saved. From the Analects of Confucius, GongChangZhi.

The origin of Idioms

"The Analects of Confucius · GongChangZhi" says: "rotten wood cannot be carved, and the wall of dung cannot be built."

Analysis of Idioms

Synonyms: rotten, incurable, rotten, incurable

Antonyms: a child can be taught, a jade and a gold, a pillar

Idiom usage

Used as a predicate or object; used to teach.

Examples

With the education and help of the head teacher, the students, who are generally regarded as rotten, have become excellent students who can't be changed.

Idiom story

During the spring and Autumn period, Zai Yu, a disciple of Confucius, was very good at speaking beautiful words. At first, Confucius liked him very much and thought that he would be promising. But soon Confucius found that he often didn't come to class. He sent people to look for him and found that he was sleeping in his room. After knowing this, Confucius said sadly, "rotten wood can't be carved, and walls like dirt can't be painted."