📖 Meaning
The idiom literally means turning corners and wearing down angles, describing the act of walking along a winding, tortuous road. It conveys the idea of a path that curves and doubles back rather than running straight. By extension, it can describe taking a roundabout, indirect route to a destination or goal.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase appears in Chapter 82 of 'Jinghua Yuan' (镜花缘, Flowers in the Mirror), a satirical fantasy novel by Li Ruzhen of the Qing Dynasty. In the scene, the character Jinyun laughs and notes that Sister Xiaochun mispronounces '爽爽快快' (shuangshuang kuaikuai) as '霜霜快快' and '转弯磨角' as '转弯磨禄', filling her speech with so-called 'ancient pronunciations' while claiming others are overly particular about such matters. The passage uses the idiom to illustrate the character's comical misreading while preserving the imagery of a meandering path.
💡 Example Usage
这条山路转弯磨角，一行人走了大半天才到山脚。
The mountain path wound and turned at every corner, and it took the travelers most of the day to reach the foot of the hill.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 转弯磨角
- Pinyin: zhuǎn wān mó jiǎo
- Literal Translation: turn, bend, grind, corner
- Category: Action
- Characters: 4