水性杨花

水性楊花
shuǐxìngyánghuā
fickle (woman)

CEDICT

  1. (of a woman) frivolous; fickle; lascivious
  2. An aquatic plant, Ottelia acuminata var. crispa, endemic to Southern China and consumed as food.
  3. frivolous; fickle; lascivious

Wiktionary

水性随势而流，杨花随风飘浮。比喻女子用情不专，淫荡轻薄。《福惠全书．卷一九．刑名部．姦情》：「或彼粗悍而诱彼以温柔，妇人水性杨花，焉有不为所动。」《红楼梦．第九二回》：「大凡女人都是水性杨花。我若说有钱，他便是贪图银钱了。」也作「杨花水性」。

重編國語辭典

  1. 波叶海菜花
  2. 用情不专一

維基詞典

Entry Composition

1 水性 shuǐxìng
  1. swimming ability
  2. characteristics of a body of water (depth, currents etc)
  3. aqueous
  4. water-based (paint etc)
2 杨花 yánghuā willow catkins; willow down

Related entries

善变 shànbiàn
  1. fickle
  2. mercurial
  3. changeable
  4. capricious
  5. to be apt to change
多变 duōbiàn
  1. fickle
  2. (math.) multivariate
薄幸 bóxìng
  1. fickle
  2. inconstant person
薄情 bóqíng
  1. inconstant in love
  2. fickle
女人薄情善变。

A woman is ever fickle and changeable.

Source: Tatoeba

无常 wúcháng
  1. variable
  2. changeable
  3. fickle
  4. impermanence (Sanskrit: anitya)
  5. ghost taking away the soul after death
  6. to pass away
  7. to die
世事變幻無常，人不能因循守舊、一成不變。

Things change from time to time, and one should change with them.

Source: Tatoeba

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