Four-character expressions for effort and work

These four-character expressions, 成语(chéngyǔ), are the way Chinese praises effort and criticises the lack of it, and they turn up in school reports, job interviews and speeches at work. Most are used like a verb or an adjective in a sentence (他(tā)工作(gōngzuò)一丝不苟(yìsībùgǒu)), often with 地(de) before a verb. The literal meaning, given in the notes, is a good memory aid, but the English is what the expression means today. Several come in pairs worth learning together, such as 事半功倍(shìbàngōngbèi) and 事倍功半(shìbèigōngbàn).