📖 Meaning
This idiom means to make a modest contribution or do some work for a larger cause. It likens one's small efforts to adding bricks and tiles to a building under construction, emphasizing that every bit of work, however small, helps the collective effort.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom has no recorded origin in classical literature; its 出处 is given as 无 (none). It is a variant of the more common idiom 添砖加瓦 (tiān zhuān jiā wǎ), which draws on the everyday image of construction, where every brick and tile is needed to complete a house. The phrase gained wide currency in mid-20th-century China, where it was frequently used to encourage ordinary people to contribute their labor to the cause of socialist construction. There is no specific dynasty or historical figure associated with its coinage.
💡 Example Usage
多挖一锹煤，也是给社会主义建设增砖添瓦嘛！
Every extra shovel of coal you dig is also adding a brick and a tile to socialist construction!
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 增砖添瓦
- Pinyin: zēng zhuān tiān wǎ
- Literal Translation: add brick, add tile
- Category: Action
- Characters: 4