Chinese idiom “上蹿下跳 shàng cuān xià tiào” means “jump up and down due to either being too excited, or too worried, or even too high”. It can also implicates that someone is actively connecting with important people trying to pull some strings to get things done. For the second meaning, it is used with negative tone.

I’ll show you how to use it in the following examples:

 

    [example 1 - jump up and down due to being excited ]

    tīngshuō míngtiān yào qù lǚxíng， tā gāoxìng dé shàng cuān xià tiào。

    听说明天要去旅行，他高兴得上蹿下跳。

    It is said that we’ll be on trip tomorrow. He happily jumper up and down upon hearing this news.

    

    [example 2 - jump up and down due to anxiety ]

    děng bùdào tā de xiāoxi， tā jí dé shàng cuān xià tiào。

    等不到她的消息，他急得上蹿下跳。

    Without any word from her, he was anxiously jumping up and down.

    

    [example 3 - actively move around to pull strings]

    wèile shēng zhí, tā dàochù shàng cuān xià tiào zhǎo guānxi。

    为了升职, 他到处上蹿下跳找关系。

    In order to get a promotion, he moved up and down to pull strings.

 

Now could you use 上蹿下跳 shàng cuān xià tiào to make three sentences in different situations? Don’t be shy to show your work.