临时抱佛脚
seek help at the last moment
【注音】lín shí bào fó jiǎo
【解释】俗话说“平时不烧香，临时抱佛脚”。就是平时不跟佛烧点香儿，碰到麻烦了就去找佛保佑，比喻事情到紧急的时候再想办法，已经来不及了。
There is a folk saying: "Never burn incense when all is well but clasp Buddha's feet when in distress." That is to say, never worship the Buddha at ordinary times but only pray in time of trouble, which means it's too late to find a way out at the last minute.
【例子】
爸爸：儿子，已经12点了，你还不睡觉，明天学习会没有精神的。
儿子：我再学会儿，后天就要考试了。
爸爸：你平时不认真学习，想临时抱佛脚，恐怕已经晚了吧？
Ex.：
Dad: It's 12 o'clock now. Go to bed, otherwise you'll be tired tomorrow.
Son: Let me study more, the exam is in two days' time.
Dad: You never work so hard in ordinary days. Now you want to make up at the last minute. I'm afraid it's a bit too late.
马后炮 gun after the horse
【注音】mǎ hòu pào
【解释】中国象棋术语，这里是指行动或言论落后于形势，晚了。
This is a Chinese chess term used figuratively to mean belated action or advice.
【例子】
例：事情既然已经发生了，我们还是想办法解决吧，不要说“如果”，放马后炮了。
Ex.：Since it's already happened, let's try to find a way out. It's too late and useless to talk about "if".