Chinese language vocabulary 汉语词汇 名落孙山(Míngluòsūnshān )

Sòngcháo shí yǒu gè míng jiào Sūn Shān de rén, tā shífēn yōumò, érqiě shàncháng jiǎng xiàohuà. Yǒu yí cì, tā hé tóngxiāng de érzǐ yìqǐ qù jīngchéng kǎoshì. Kǎoshì jiéguǒ gōngbù hòu, tāmen qù kànbǎng. Sūn Shān de míngzì zài bǎng shàng zuìhòu yì míng, dàn hái shì kǎo shàng le, ér tóngxiāng de érzǐ méiyǒu kǎo shàng. Sūn Shān huíjiā hòu, tóngxiāng de érzǐ hái méi huílái, tóng xiāng jiù lái xún wèn jiéguǒ, Sūn Shān wěiwǎn de shuō:” jiěmíng jìnchù shì Sūn Shān, xiánláng gèng zài Sūn Shān wài.” Yìsī shì, bǎng shàng zuìhòu yì míng shì Sūn Shān, ér nǐ érzǐ de míngzì hái zài wǒ hòumiàn, tā luòbǎng le.
宋朝时有个名叫孙山的人，他十分幽默，而且擅长讲笑话。有一次，他和同乡的儿子一起去京城考试。考试结果公布后，他们去看榜。孙山的名字在榜上最后一名， 但还是考上了，而同乡的儿子没有考上。孙山回家后，同乡的儿子还没回来，同乡就来询问结果，孙山委婉地说：“解名尽处是孙山，贤郎更在孙山外。”意思是， 榜上最后一名是孙山，而你儿子的名字还在我后面，他落榜了。

There was a man named Sun Shan who lived in the Song Dynasty. He had a great sense of humor, and was very skilled at telling jokes. One time, he went to the capital to take civil examinations with a fellow villager's son. When the results were posted, he went to look at the list. His name Sun Shan was the very last on the list, but at least he passed. Nevertheless, his companion's name was nowher on the list. After Sun Shan returned home, the son had not returned yet, and his father came to ask about the results. Sun Shan tactfully said:" the last name on the list is Sun Shan, your son's name is still behind Sun Shan." It suggested that your son didn't pass the exam.

Words：
幽默yōumò：humorous (adj.)
擅长shàncháng：be good at (v.)
公布gōngbù： make public (v.)
榜bǎng： published list of names(n.)
询问xúnwèn： inquire (v.)
委婉wěiwǎn： euphemistic (adj.)
落榜luòbǎng： to fail in the exam for a job or school admission(v.)

Meanings：

“名”是指“名字”，“孙山”是人名。“名落孙山”的意思是名字落在榜末孙山的后面，指考试或选拔没有被录取。

" 名(míng)" is "name", "孙山(Sun Shan)" is a person's name. "名落孙山(míngluòsūnshān)" means the person's name is still after the last name of Sun Shan on the list, which indicates the person under discussion didn't make it in a test or a selection.

Sentences：

1. Kǎoshì qián tā shēng le yì chǎng dàbìng, méi néng hǎohǎo fùxí, jiéguǒ míngluò-SūnShān.
考试前他生了一场大病，没能好好复习，结果名落孙山。

Before the test he came down with a severe sickness, and was unable to review well, so he 名落孙山.

2. Gāo Kǎo jiù xiàng yì chǎng bǐsài, yǒu de rén néng kǎo jìn lǐxiǎng de dàxué, yě yǒu rén míngluò-SūnShān.
高考就像一场比赛，有的人能考进理想的大学,也有人名落孙山。

The college entrance examination was like a match. Someone was able to test into the ideal college, and someone just 名落孙山.