líng灵cleverjī机opportunityyí一oncedòng动move
A bright idea suddenly occurs to one; to have a flash of inspiration.
Literal meaning
clever (灵) — opportunity (机) — once (一) — move (动)
Origin
A classical four-character phrase describing a sudden burst of inspiration.
Examples
wǒ我líng灵jī机yí一dòng动，xiǎng想chū出le了yī一gè个hǎo好bàn办fǎ法。
A bright idea suddenly occurred to me, and I came up with a good solution.
tā他líng灵jī机yí一dòng动，yòng用zhè这ge个fāng方fǎ法jiě解jué决le了wèn问tí题。
He had a flash of inspiration and solved the problem using this method.
Usage & nuances
Often used to describe a sudden and clever solution to a problem.
Learn idioms by speaking them
Idioms are most useful when they land in a real conversation. Practice them out loud in Kango — get instant feedback on tone and timing.
Download Kango on iOS