Literally, 名落孙山 (mínɡ luò sūn shān) means the ranking is behind Sun Shan, who was the last one in the ranking table. It refers that someone failed in an examination or fell behind in a competition.
In the Song Dynasty, there was a talented man named Sun Shan. He is not only humorous, but also good at telling jokes. Therefore, people nearby gave him the nickname of “Funny talent”. Once, he and a fellow countryman’s son went to the capital to take an exam. When the list with all the names of the people who passed the exam was released, Sun Shan’s name was on the list, although it was listed as the last one. But the son of the fellow countryman who went with him failed to pass the examination.
Soon after Sun Shan returned home, his fellow countrymen asked if his son had passed the examination. Sun Shan was embarrassed to say so, but he could not conceal it. Therefore, he read out two verses that did not form a poem: “the end of Jieyuan is Sun Shan, and Xianlang is outside Sun Shan.” Jieyuan is the first person in the imperial examination system of our country, and Sun Shan’s so-called Jieyuan in his poems refers to the general examinees who passed the exam. The whole meaning of his poem is: the last one on the list is my name Sun Shan, but the name of your son is still behind my name. The metaphor of not being accepted or failing.
How to use 名落孙山:
今年高考，他名落孙山了。(jīnnián ɡāokǎo, tā mínɡluòsūnshān le) = He failed in this year’s College Entrance Examination.
获得奥斯卡影帝之前，莱昂纳多一直都是名落孙山。(huòdé àosīkǎ yǐnɡdì zhīqián, láiánɡnàduō yìzhí dōushì mínɡluòsūnshān) = Leonardo failed many times before he won the award for Best Actor.
Post time: Jul-15-2020